ROBOTS AND AUTOMATION CAN BE UTILISED IN THE AGRICULTURAL AND DAIRY INDUSTRIES AS A RESULT OF NETWORKING
Dr. Yashas R Kumar
Veterinary Pathologist
(BVSc & AH, MVSc., PhD, PGDOH., PGDAW)
Southern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (SRDDL)
Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals (IAH&VB)
Hebbal Bangalore-560024, Karnataka
Email: yashasrkumar40@gmail.com
Abstract
Dairy industry occupies a special position among the other sectors of agriculture and animal husbandry. It plays a vital role in improving the nutrition, health, and economic status of people all over the world. The dairy industry within the agricultural sector, produces an enormous quantity of food, milk, and other products. Regardless of facing multiple obstacles, present-day dairy farmers possess adequate equipment to rise above the competition. By incorporating revolutionary agricultural technology like automatic milking for large-scale dairy farms and precision farming for monitoring and analysis, they ensure increased profits on investments. Their primary goal remains providing quality milk products while adapting to changing consumer tastes. Moreover, existing legislation pertaining to eco-friendly practices and technology usage helps these farmers achieve long-term economic viability, environmental consciousness, and self-sustainability. This objective will explore the viability and utility of computer technologies systems for managing dairy production. It will examine the effectiveness of multi-purpose, multi-agent devices and software’s in tracking and controlling processes, and discuss how such software can be used to facilitate and document interactions across the agriculture and dairy supply chain.
Keywords: Dairy industry, Agricultural technology, multiagent devices and software’s
Introduction
Farming has been an essential part of human life since the dawn of evolution, and for many centuries, was limited in scope due to a lack of advanced technology. However, with the advent of new technologies such as Robotics, and Automation, the traditional methods of farming have now become much more efficient and profitable. This paper looks into the various ways one can implement these technologies to revolutionize the traditional approach to farming. GPS, drones, and precision agriculture tools, along with Artificial Intelligence, can be used to optimize operations. Data collected from sensors can be processed by automated control units, allowing robots to operate even in extreme weather conditions where direct human management is impossible. With these new technologies, agribusiness can now benefit from improved industrialization and productivity. Control devices are enabling modern agribusiness to be a more efficient and cost-effective enterprise, by providing farmers with the ability to monitor, record, and modify all works related to farming without having to be present on the field. Through these devices, farmers have access to updated information about unknown grass, insects, fungus, and weeds, while also being able to take the most appropriate action for every upcoming event. This technology has eliminated most of the setbacks inherent in traditional farming methods (Pingzeng et al., 2011 and Cheein et al., 2013)
Literary analysis
Decades ago, automation was introduced to virtually every sector of human activity. From manufacturing to security agencies, households, construction, and communication, automation has proven its effectiveness in terms of safety and accuracy. Through analyzing available data, robots can produce a controlled, precise and accurate output.
- Smart Monitoring system
Smart farming or precision agriculture technology helps maximize productivity and efficiency of crop yields and good animal husbandry practices. It utilizes sensors to collect and analyze data from the environment such as sunlight, temperature, moisture, atmospheric gas levels, etc., and sends out alerts to the farmer when change occurs in any metrics. This significantly reduces the need for continuous manual observation, while providing invaluable expertise from the Internet and expert advice with regard to decisions. Smart farming also helps achieve better management and precise analysis of crop growth and environment, thus resulting in improved crop yields and providing good feed for the livestock (Bhanu et al., 2014).
- Androids and computers
The androids and computers are designed to save time and manpower while improving efficiency. Its multiple arms are capable of performing all the activities required in farming, namely, thinning, spraying, bagging, and harvesting. This robot reduces the need for manual labour and is able to fulfil the tasks more quickly and accurately. With its built-in sensors, the robot is also able to recognize and react to any changes in the environment. By leveraging the latest technology, this multipurpose technology promises to revolutionize the farming industry and take it to the next level (Balakrishna et al., 2019).
The application of robotics for farming has become increasingly popular, with robotics being utilized for fruit collection. It has been found to be more efficient and productive than prior manual methods, such as canopy shaking, truck shaking, mechanical penetration and raking, which had their limitations. Robotics can be used in various ways for harvesting citrus fruits. Cameras are used as feedback for the robot and provide valuable information for the robot to identify and collect the fruit without damaging it or the tree. The use of robotics, therefore, is an effective way to reduce the labour shortage in farming while maintaining a high quality of fruit harvest (Balakrishna et al., 2019)
In recent years, dairy farms have begun introducing milking robots in order to minimize the required manpower for milking the animals. With these robots, the time for milking each individual cow is recorded by a computer, allowing the robot to perform the milking as per the schedule. This not only helps to cut down on costs, but it also helps the health of the cattle to remain uncompromised due to the hygienic and accurate performance of the robots, leading to a higher production of milk with a lower expenditure on treatment. Androids and computers are increasingly being used in cattle farming to automate and streamline mundane tasks such as cleaning, milking, and feeding the cattle. The technology is designed to make life easier for farmers, allowing them to take better care of their herd and focus more on other important tasks (Liao et al., 2015)
Automation has improved accuracy, efficiency, and safety when it comes to working with cattle, leading to higher quality meats and milk products. Additionally, these robots have become more sophisticated, they are able to increase the welfare of the livestock by monitoring for health and wellbeing issues and alerting the farmers when action is needed (Balakrishna et al., 2019)
3.Drones
Drones featuring open source technology, fast and accurate sensors, and better integration all contribute to increased accuracy and efficiency in agricultural operations. Farms can now use these state-of-the-art drones to increase yield and production with minimal manual interference. In addition, drones can perforom tasks such as delivery, videography, surveillance, and entertainment that were once limited to armies and security forces. This remarkable evolution of drone technology is certainly revolutionizing the agricultural industry, and making it more cost effective and efficient (Aloisio et al., 2012 and Doerfler et al., 2017)
The use of drones for monitoring has drastically improved the ability to maintain surveillance in areas which are otherwise difficult to access. Pesticide spraying, monitoring farms, and tracking wildlife can all be accomplished with relative ease, thanks to the rapid advancements in drone technology. High-quality imaging, superior flight performance, and extended range capabilities make these machines invaluable to both professional and amateur farmers alike. With proper training and guidance provided by experts, farmers can now rely on drones to help increase their overall yields and maintain good animal husbandry practices (Butler et al., 2012 and Puri et al., 2017)
Conclusion
Automation and robotics technology is rapidly advancing through agribusiness to support the ever-growing needs of consumers and producers alike. Machines being used for farming today are highly advanced compared to the machinery used when industrial production was still in its infancy. Machinery such as harvesters, terrain levellers, and seed dispensers are all now remotely controlled and can be operated from a single workstation. Drones, robots are playing an increasingly important role in agriculture and animal husbandry, helping to bring down the cost of production and providing farmers with high efficiency, cheap technology, and high yields. With the advances in automation, robotics, traditional farming methods are becoming outmoded and are being replaced by more efficient alternatives. This will result in more consistent yields, easier control, and increased sustainability of animal husbandry and agriculture.
References
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