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Martin Abell, Jonathan Gill and Kit Franklin are the team behind what is reportedly the world’s first totally autonomously sown and harvested barley field.
A hectare of spring barley – about 2.5 U.S. acres – is sown and harvested in England using only robotic machines and technology throughout the project.
The “Hands-Free Hectare” team convert a 25-year-old combine harvester with a 2-metre header into an autonomous robot with cameras, lasers and global-positioning systems.
British researchers convert a small Iseki tractor into an autonomous robot to work in a spring-barley field.
Drones are used to scoop soil samples and take crop samples for testing during a British research project that allowed no humans to enter the field.
The combine used by the 'Hands-Free Hectare' team is using similar systems to those established on the team's tractor, used for spraying, drilling and rolling the hectare.
An Iseki tractor is converted into an autonomous robot by a British research team; they say smaller smarter vehicles are the future because they can work with greater precision and reduce harmful soil compaction.
Chris McCullough
A hectare of spring barley – about 2.5 U.S. acres – has been sown and harvested in England using only robotic machines and technology throughout the project.
Chris McCullough, brought up on a dairy and beef farm in the heart of Northern Ireland, is a journalist who specialises in the international world of agriculture.
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