{"id":9659,"date":"2017-10-03T06:45:09","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T14:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/10\/03\/news-3432\/"},"modified":"2017-10-03T06:45:09","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T14:45:09","slug":"news-3432","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/10\/03\/news-3432\/","title":{"rendered":"This Farm Has No Farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Credit to Author: Claire Downs| Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2017 14:00:00 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just after sunset on September 6, 2017, celebrations erupted on a farm in the quiet county of Shropshire, England. After a year of hard labor and careful planning, researchers achieved the previously impossible: the world’s first fully automated harvest\u2014from barren land to flourishing crops\u2014had been successfully completed. The “Hands Free Hectare<\/a>” used nothing but robots, and was yet another step forward in revolutionizing how we feed the world. <\/p>\n

After receiving \u00a3200,000 in government funding in October 2016, the team from Harper Adams University set to work modifying a tractor and twenty-five year old combine with cameras, lasers, and gps systems. Drones aided in monitoring the field, while a robot “scout” scooped up soil samples for inspection. <\/p>\n

Previous studies on driverless tractors have used large machines to get the job done. But the Harper Adams team used another tactic: Their small tractor and combine were able to make more precise movements, limit damage to soil for future harvests, and increase efficiency. <\/p>\n

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