Amid growing interest in synecoculture, which can be implemented in areas such as deserts where conventional farming is impossible, an agricultural robot that can continuously perform the multiple tasks required for synecoculture has been developed by Waseda University Faculty of Science and Engineering. It was developed through joint research by Takuya Otani, junior researcher at the research institute, Atsuo Takanishi, professor at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and Sustaenergy Co., Ltd., a solar power generation company.
Synecoculture is a farming method advocated by Masatoshi Funahashi, a senior researcher at Sony Computer Science Laboratories. cultivate.It is attracting attention as it can be cultivated in areas such as deserts where single crop cultivation is not possible.
Sustainergy, which has been developing and operating solar power projects in Japan, noted that many solar power plants do not utilize the space under the solar panels.By conducting large-scale synecoculture in semi-shaded areas under solar panels, we investigated the compatibility of food production and electric energy production with renewable energy.However, there was a problem in that it had to rely on human hands to perform multiple farming tasks, and that it had to be deployed over a wide area.
SynRobo, an agricultural robot developed by Waseda University, has the ability to continuously move, plant seeds, remove weeds, and harvest in farmland where multiple types of plants coexist.A 260-degree camera is attached to the tip of the work arm so that the surrounding environment of the work point can be widely recognized even when plants are in the way.
Digging holes for seed planting requires a lot of force, and contact with plants can cause damage and poor growth and a decrease in the value of the harvest.The research group has solved this problem by equipping the robot with a work arm that moves forward, backward, left and right, and develops a work tool that enables weed removal and harvested material to be held and cut. .
Waseda University will continue research with the aim of making agricultural robots autonomous, practical, and large-scale.If synecoculture can be implemented on a large scale under solar panels through this research and development, it is expected that greening and renewable energy production as climate change countermeasures, as well as food production, will be promoted.
Paper information:[Agriculture] Agricultural Robots under Solar Panels for Sowing, Pruning, and Harvesting in a Synecoculture Environment
