Robotics Specialist Interest Group

The application of AI and robotics to agriculture has seen an explosion in interest and investment in recent years. In what is being heralded as the Fourth Agricultural revolution, there are increasing numbers of engineers and technicians involved in the development and use of robotic technology. The application of robotics to agricultural problems will undoubtedly redefine the economics of food production and open up new opportunities for farmers and farming methods

Aims of the Group

The aim of the robotics and AI special interest group is to provide a forum for all IAgrE members to discuss, learn and increase their understanding of agricultural robotics and AI.  The topics explored by the robotics special interest group will be both commercial and technical. 

About the Group

All Robotics and AI special interest group events will be open attendance to encourage involvement and interaction from a diverse audience, however the back catalog of event recordings will only be accessible to IAgrE members.

The Robotics and AI special interest group is being headed up by Raymond King AMIAgrE, Lead Engineer at Small Robot Company and Kit Franklin MIAgrE,  Senior Lecturer at Harper Adams University and Principal Investigator of Hands Free Farm.

Events

Upcoming events are listed here:

Past Events - the events are open to all and are recorded - the recordings are available to IAgrE Members only - please contact the Secretariat to find out how to join us

Autonomous Farming and Alternative Powertrains on 28th October 2024 Rhian Griffith, CEng MIAgrE introduced the work at AMRC Cymru and gave an overview of their Agri-Tech projects as well as describing the retrofitting research in progess.

The Lasting legacy of Prof Simon Blackmore - on 16th July 2024 a panel of industry and academic experts joined us to discuss the influence and lasting legacy of Prof Blackmore who sadly died recently - as a tribute to Professor Blackmore the IAgrE have chosen to make this video public - find it here

A discussion forum on the launch of BS8646 Use of autonomous mobile machinery in agriculture and horticulture was held on 4 July 2024- our panel included, big business, small business and academia - a great panel meeting and discussion, which was very informative for attendees. 

"The application of robotics in agriculture - Discussion and thoughts from a cross industry panel" was held our inaugural event held on Tuesday 8 February 2022.

The follow up event, held on 31 March 2022, was entitled Addressing Barriers to Autonomous Agriculture Adoption" and was again very well attended.  

This was followed by "Are we ready for the Robotics Revolution?, on 22 September 2023 - an interesting discussion on skills and training required for working with robotics and AI.  

We hosted an "International Special" in March 2023 - bringing together an international panel of representatives from companies that attended the recent World FIRA event in Toulouse France. We heard their thoughts and views on the event as well as their opinions on the Agtech space in general.

You can find other recordings of interest on the IAgrE Videos YouTube Channel - this is a link to Kit Franklin's Lunchtime Lecture on How Robots are redefining the future of farming.  This is a link to a lecture given by Ray King from the Small Robot Company at a recent Wrekin Branch meeting on Super Tom.

For more information or to find out how to get involved please contact Sarah at the Secretariat.