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THE FARM OF THE FUTURE ... And the future is NOW! We saw last month how different the farm of tomorrow will be with dramatic advances in robotic technology already appearing. Two Australian universities demonstrated how they are leading the way in the “Farm of the Future” pavillion at this year’s Royal Easter Show in Sydney. A part from the showbags and rides (yeah, right!) one of the attractions at The Show was a purpose-built “Nissen Hut” pavilion, under the auspices of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW, showcasing “The Farm of the Future”. While the exhibits themselves drew a lot of attention from visitors, it was more the technology behind what was being shown and in some cases demonstrated which attracted our attention. We were particularly impressed by the largest exhibitor, the University of New England (UNE), who brought down just some of their “SMART” Farm applications from its SMART Farm Landscape Laboratory. It was, in fact, this SMART Farm – and the farm of tomorrow – which we really visited the show to see. SMART, by the way, is not simply a clever adjective. It’s also an acronym 16 Silicon Chip which describes their philosophy: Sustainable, Manageable and Accessible Rural Technologies Of course, the amount they could bring to the show was merely a taste of what they were doing “back on the farm”. It’s all part of the UNE’s own SMART Farms, 10km northwest of the main UNE campus in Armidale, northern NSW. In fact, the university has not one farm but eight, for a total of 3820 hectares. All but one of these are either adjacent to, or a few minutes from the main UNE campus; the 740 hectare Tullimba farm (a 1000-head feedlot) is 40km west of Armidale. UNE has transformed ‘KirbyNewholme’, a 2,900ha commercial by Ross Tester Australia’s electronics magazine farm, into a highly connected landscape or SMART farm which showcases the latest technologies aimed at improving productivity, environmental sustainability, safety, workflow and social/business support networks on Australian farms. Linked via AARNet and the national broadband network (fibre, terrestrial wireless and satellite) the predominantly grazing SMART Farm is a national demonstrator site. It also serves as a research, education and outreach facility not only for the SMART Farms itself but for UNEled global advances in agriculture research and development. Facilities include a farm ‘Command Centre’ (shown above), visitor and teaching space with a 52-seat seminar room and offices. Enhanced ICT and AV infrastructure and technologies give students and visiting researchers access to, as well siliconchip.com.au as hands-on experience with, modern technologies that aim to revolutionise the way farms are managed. Established in 2002, the University’s Precision Agriculture Research Group (PARG) develops new technologies that address current challenges in agriculture, horticulture and natural resource management using expertise from a range of fields. PARG is a multidisciplinary group of researchers developing innovative, low cost and accessible technology for industry and farmers. PARG uses the latest sensors and positioning technology to improve efficiencies and cost effectiveness. PARG not only encompasses the SMART farm but research and development, industry collaboration, sustainable agriculture, WRAIN – Water Research and Innovation Network, even their Research Group for Molecular Biology . . . and more. In amongst all this, of course, they’re educating Australia’s (and the world’s) rural leaders of tomorrow with techniques and equipment that, in the main, hadn’t even been invented (or at least available) last century. The SMART Farm The Precision Agriculture Research Group has five main research themes that covers the work being undertaken on the SMART Farm: • Smart farms including sensors    and sensor networks • Precision livestock management siliconchip.com.au Distinguished Professor David Lamb of the Precision Agriculture Research Group explains the workings and applications of drones. • Remote sensing • Intelligent and autonomous   systems • Healthy agricultural environments These themes are further divided into many smaller segments, in which the latest in technology, electronics and robotics play a major role. For example, when they say precision livestock management, it’s no longer a case of counting sheep (or taking a guess!) – with each animal now fitted with an individual RFID tag. For some research projects individual sheep have various sensors that Australia’s electronics magazine are used. They could not only tell the farm operator how many there are but where they are – and even if there are any health problems with any particular animal. In intelligent and autonomous systems, as you might expect, drones are taking on an ever-increasing role. There are drones now which can even identify weeds within a crop and very accurately target those weeds with poison – with limited human intervention (if at all). Other drones and unmanned vehi- July 2018  17 Current UNE SMART Farms Research: • sheep and cattle genetic and nutrition research • animal behaviour and welfare research • dog nutrition • poultry nutrition, production and welfare research • pasture management • natural resource management • water resource flow research • native animal research cles (some of which were on display at the show) can make their way along a crop and fertilise it. Wireless is becoming increasingly more important on the land. We’ve seen wireless technology used to monitor dam and water storage levels with automatic action (eg, opening or closing valves) where required. We’ve seen similar technology used to monitor the status of farm gates – and in some cases, either automatically or on command open or close them. That’s all regarded as “ho-hum” these days – indeed, several projects published in SILICON CHIP over the years could allow those with even limited electronics knowledge to achieve much the same thing. For example, many of our rural readers have told us how useful our WiFi Water Tank Level Meter has been (February 2018; siliconchip.com.au/Article/10963) But one of the SMART Farm applications demonstrated by UNE had wireless monitoring of eucalypt trees – these types of sensors are also being used by PARG researchers in tree crops. • agro forestry • agronomy and horticulture research • mixed farming systems research • soil moisture and crop yield mapping • cattle grazing behaviour research • crop variety development • precision agriculture research • forestry and pasture establishment and production research Sensors ARE actually attached to each tree, with central reporting as to the health of the tree – telling operators if the tree is lacking water, stressed, attacked by parasites, and so on. They can even tell if a crop is ready for harvesting by information sent back. These are just a tiny sample of the agricultural research and development being carried out at UNE. Some of the other more esoteric include: • the remote monitoring of livestock (they even have stock walking over scales which report that animal’s weight at that time); • an on-animal sensor system which allows graziers to spatially and temporally monitor the animal’s health and welfare status automomously; • remote water tank monitoring to directly access stock water levels . . . • and they’re even involved with nano-satellites, developing an ultra-low-cost remote connectivity platform. SILICON CHIP has published features on both nano-satellites (January 2018 – siliconchip.com.au/Article/10930) and the internet of things (IoT) (November 2016 – siliconchip.com.au/ Article/10425). While not specifically related to agriculture uses, these articles both demonstrated the direction such fields are taking. Leading in education SMART Farms aren’t only about research programs and training university students. The SmartFarm Learning Hub connects teachers and students to industry and technology through their growing catalog of free learning modules. As a living landscape laboratory in a commercial farm setting, there is the opportunity for education on agricultural systems and cutting edge research across a range of disciplines. The proximity to a variety of soil, vegetation and land use types also facilitates this. With dedicated programs for secondary students interested in precision agriculture and agtech and its applications in farming systems, the SMART Farms provide a great starting point for agricultural education. This is followed through into tertiary and higher degree studies. With large areas of undisturbed vegetation, the Farms are ideal for hands-on experience in natural resource and environmental studies and the interaction of these with agricultural systems. Drones We mentioned drones (UAVs) a little earlier. Alongside their burgeoning use in the wider world for “serious” applications (see SILICON CHIP, May 2018, for example) they’re making The “SMART Farm Innovation Centre”, near Armidale in Fashion accessories for sheep? Research animals fitted with a transponder which monitors its health and location Northern NSW. As well as operating a working farm, it has the facilities for education, training and management. in real time – and transmits the data back to base. 18 Silicon Chip Australia’s electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au Yamaha’s unmanned 2705 x 720mm, 100kg RMAX helicopter. It is seen here spraying a crop from its onboard twin 8-litre liquid tanks (it can also be fitted with twin 13-litre granular tanks). Spraying is usually carried out 3-4m above the crop. The RMAX, fitted with a 246cc petrol engine, can be flown for up to to 1 hour before requiring refuelling (depending on weather conditions and payload). A CASA licence is required to fly the RMAX and it is currently is limited (by CASA regulations) to a height of 120m/400 feet and a maximum speed of 40km/h. serious inroads into a wide variety of applications in agriculture. That can be as simple as observation /surveillance to much more active crop and stock control and management. A significant amount of the research and practical work being undertaken at Armidale involves the use of drones to make farm life much easier; indeed, undertaking some tasks which would have proved impossible or way overthe-top on a limited farm budget. Their UAV research includes lowcost, high-quality 3D crop monitoring. Until now, this hasn’t really been possible – unless full-sized aircraft were used, making the whole thing uneconomic. They’re also building applications for UAVs to support field data collection, developing new sensors and image-calibration systems, involving satellite images as well as UAV images. While city-dwellers might think of “drones” as those annoying little high-pitched and intrusive “toys with cameras” that have so disturbed the privacy crowd, drones used on farms can range from those (maybe not so intrusive!) to much larger and much more capable. ing everything that the on-board camera is able to show. These were the starting point: further developments (in optics, software, etc) will enable crop and pest identification. More advanced drones also incorporate the ability to treat crops/ pests (eg, fertilise or poison) by remote control. It doesn’t have to cost $$$ But wait, there’s more BIGGER! Small, hobby-type drones were on display at the Royal Easter Show from a number of sources, mainly intended for a farmer to “fly” over the property from the comfort of home, while view- While not part of the UNE display at the show (but in the same pavilion) a company more familiar to readers as a motorbike and outboard engine manufacturer, Yamaha, displayed their One of a number of automatic weather stations at the UNE SMART Farms streaming live weather data. siliconchip.com.au A lot of the on-farm systems – gate open/closed, for example, are solar powered with direct data transmission via radio. Australia’s electronics magazine July 2018  19 University of Sydney’s solar-powered “RIPPA” (Robot for Intelligent Perception and Precision Application) in a static display showing how it can autonomously travel up crop rows without damaging them, at the same time selectively weeding and/or fertilising etc. Inset above is RIPPA in action, working on a field of beetroot near Cowra, NSW. monstrous RMAX UAV helicopter (as seen above). It almost looks like someone could fit inside, at nearly 3m long (by way of contrast, the 2-seater Robinson R22 is less than 9m long!). The RMAX has a rotor span of more than three metres. Unlike most drones, the majority of which have enclosed or protected rotors, a helicopter of this size would be capable of doing some serious damage if not controlled properly, hence a CASA commercial UAV licence is required. Because flying a helicopter UAV is arguably more difficult than flying a typical drone (even though it has some highly sophisticated computer/GPS/ etc control built in), Yamaha can provide instruction right through to the CASA licence. The RMAX can be fitted with a variety of payloads, eg, a high resolution camera (with real-time radio feed) either liquid or granular fertilisers, poisons etc. While agricultural drones abounded in the Farm of the Future display, we were particularly impressed with the Yamaha RMAX (if only for its “wow” factor!) More info: www.yamaha-motor.com.au Incidentally, you will note on their website that you can’t buy a RMAX – they are only available for lease. Robotics Both the University of New England and Sydney University had displays featuring the already-existing use of robots on farms. Sydney University’s Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) is one of the largest robotics research institutes in the world, focussing on research, development and application of autonomous and intelligent robots and systems for use in outdoor envrionments. At the Sydney University display, we were able to examine several USyd rural robotics developments: Swagbot is a research robot for work on grazing livestock farms and is currently the only such robot in the world designed to do this. It is capable of navigating extremely difficult terrain and is designed with a number of uses in mind including livestock monitoring, herding and detecting and spraying weeds. In addition, it can tow a trailer to deliver feed, supplies, etc. In one example of it use for weeding, it has been taught to recognise using machine learning the characteristics of the noxious weed African boxthorn and to autonomously find and destroy it. RIPPA with VIIPA (Robot for Intelligent Perception and Precision Application) is another Australian robot designed and under development by ACFR intended for use in the vegetable growing and orchard industry. It is able to autonomously follow and change to different plant rows, undertake machine learning, perform 3D image reconstruction, autonomously perform mechanical weeding, per- RIPPA in another mode: working in an apple orchard near Three Bridges, Vic. The split photo on the right shows that RIPPA has identified apples which are then individually and automatically sprayed. Later variations will have fully automated harvesting – eventually most current farm labour-intensive tasks could be carried out by robots. 20 Silicon Chip Australia’s electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au form precision fluid delivery such as herbicide or fertiliser and perform autonomous soil sampling and mapping. RIPPA is equipped with solar panels for recharging its batteries. Most recently it has being taught to recognise pests such as snails or beetles on various crops and kill them. For fluid delivery it is equipped with VIIPA (Variable Injection Intelligent Precision Applicator). Ladybird is primarily designed as a research platform to acquire crop data and is equipped with numerous vision sensors such as hyperspectral, thermal, infrared, panoramic vision, stereovision with strobe, LiDAR as well as GPS. It is battery and solar powered and can make various assessments about crop health and yield. It can create 3D imagery of an entire crop at high resolution and this also allows the identification of weeds and estimates of crop yield. The Digital Farmhand, again under development by ACFR, is designed to perform crop analytics as well as provide automation of a number of simple farm tasks. Like a tractor, this robot can also tow a number of different implements such as a sprayer, weeder and seeder As well as their “wheeled” robotics, Sydney University has reported significant breakthroughs in UAV robotics. They have built a UAV surveillance system to detect aquatic weeds in inaccessible habitats and used UAVs to detect, classify and map infestations of wheel cactus over large areas of outback Australia. They have also used a lightweight hexacopter to detect alligator weed infestations and used a J3 Cub unmanned plane (UAV) to detect and map various species of Woody Weed in northern Queensland. Development of equipment in the laboratory – such as the multi-rotor aircraft seen here, for example, ends up in as part of the research in the field. other electronics enable it to navigate through a field, detect and classify weeds and then kill them either mechanically or chemically. The robot can also be used to apply fertiliser. In trials, the vision system operated with 99% accuracy in the classification of the correct weed species based on the images collected by the robot cameras. Future versions of Agbot II could also feed back data on such things as soil and crop health and the state of diseases as they conduct their operations. This would enable better management decisions driven by paddock specific, real-time information. AgBots are designed to work in groups, which increases the reliability of weeding operations. If one robot has a problem and fails, the others continue operating. This is not the case with a single tractor or single sprayer operation. Agbot ll is solar powered at present, which is better for the environment and the farmer’s budget. University (and other) websites If you’re interested in a career in agriculture, or even just find out what our universities are doing, all have quite extensive websites which you can surf through as you wish. The three main ones we’ve looked at here are: University of New England – www.une.edu.au Sydney University – https://sydney.edu.au and the Queensland University of Technology – www.qut.edu.au Teachers and school authorities can also discover what an association with universities can do for their students. Finally, there is also a wealth of information on manufacturer’s websites covering the exciting area of rural robotics and equipment – an area that will only burgeon in the future. SC QUT’s Agbot II We haven’t even looked at the extensive work being undertaken by many other Australian universities (they weren’t at the Sydney show!) but some of the work of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) bears mention. They claim their 600kg agricultural robot Agbot II (seen at right), could save Australia’s farm sector $1.3 billion a year by reducing the costs of weeding crops by around 90%. Agbot II’s sensors, software and siliconchip.com.au Queensland University of Technology’s Agbot II working in a field to identify and destroy weeds, which it is claimed to do with 99% accuracy. Australia’s electronics magazine July 2018  21