Field pilots

Pilots.

Two pilots have been completed: one on a farm, with FPO Anekal, and one in a workshop at Army Base 515. In both, we tested the robot carrying loads.

The Versor robot between leafy plants in a field, with a person standing beside it — The robot in the field

Farm pilot

FPO Anekal

FPO Anekal is a farmer producer organisation. We tested load carrying with its farmers. The farms we visited include open fields and polyhouses.

Farms visited: 7
Crop types: 5

Rose, chrysanthemum, kamini, cucumber and banana

Pain points confirmed with farmers

Labour availability
Labour cost
Dependence on migrant labour

A man sitting on the Versor robot as it carries him and a sack along a dirt track on a farm — Load carrying, FPO Anekal

Rows of yellow chrysanthemums in an open field, with a narrow dirt path between them — Chrysanthemum rows

A long row between trellis posts and overhead wires, with the robot and a blue crate at the far end — Down a trellis row

Field notes

Lessons from the field

Drip lines
Drip irrigation lines were the biggest obstacle. They run along the beds and cross the paths the robot has to drive on.
Uneven rows
Row spacing is never uniform. It changes from farm to farm, and from one row to the next.
Turning
Turning width is a bigger problem than row width. Driving along a row is easier than turning at the end of it.

Bare crop beds with black drip irrigation lines running along them — Drip lines along the beds

A drip irrigation line crossing a muddy path between two planted beds — A drip line across the path

Rows of flowering shrubs in an open field, with paths of different widths between them — Flower rows

Workshop pilot

Army Base 515 workshop

At the workshop of Army Base 515, we tested load carrying. The robot carried a crate of metal parts across the workshop floor.

The Versor robot on the painted floor of a large workshop, with people watching — The workshop, Army Base 515

The Versor robot carrying a blue crate full of metal parts — Load carrying, Army Base 515

Field demo

Inside a grown crop row

A tractor cannot enter a field once the crop is up. The robot has worked inside a grown crop row, carrying a crate between the plants while a person picked.

A person picking cucumbers into a blue crate on the robot, in a narrow row of tall climbing plants — Working inside a grown crop row

The robot with a blue crate standing in a row of climbing plants on trellis poles — A crate between the rows

Ask about a pilot

Pilots.

FPO Anekal

Lessons from the field

Drip lines

Uneven rows

Turning

Army Base 515 workshop

Inside a grown crop row