Robotics, AI and Automation Archives - Agri-EPI Centre
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Robotics, AI and Automation

With an increasing role in the modern management of land and livestock, at Agri-EPI we are at the fore-front of robotics, AI and automation in farming. Our role to explore and deliver precision farming engineering, technology and innovation in the UK agriculture, horticulture and aquaculture. Collaborating with a broad range of teams and individuals from science, farming and the retail and processing sector for the improvement of our land and farming methods.

Agri-tech solutions for sustainable farming

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At Agri-EPI Centre, we help to develop robust and commercially viable solutions to empower more sustainable farms. From bespoke validation trials to system and product development, we are a collaborator of choice for agri-tech developers, start-ups through to established companies.

We are open to new projects and partnerships that use agri-tech in both funded and private research which are focused on the health and welfare of soil, crops and animals in order to:

• increase efficiency

• enhance environmental sustainability

• ensure productivity and farm business sustainability

We provide a set of services to assist in the creation of agri-tech products through either commercial or grant funded projects. We assist in the development process through a strong technical team combining with a world class set of equipment and facilities.

Balancing productivity with environmental and business sustainability is a challenge at farm level, which will only become more scrutinised. We believe healthy soils provide a foundation for a resilient agri-food sector.

Relevant and affordable agri-tech has a part to play in supporting a sustainable farming system, whether its software to automate data capture, manage inputs and outputs for better decision making or hardware to optimise current processes, increase efficiencies, reduce emissions and provide precision application.

Agri-EPI is here to help with your tech development and offers the following resources.

Read more below:

Sustainable farming brochure

Spectral imaging for the agriculture industry

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Spectral imaging as a general concept combines characteristics of imaging and spectroscopy technologies. Optical spectral imaging particularly makes use of visible, near infrared and short-wave infrared spectral range, has been demonstrated to be a very powerful tool in identifying, classifying, and mapping specific targets across whole scenery image in various application scenarios.

Spectral Imaging is especially useful in the agricultural domain, where crop/vegetation in different conditions has unique spectral characteristics. With more robust and rugged imaging product integrated with various platforms, agri-tech has been undertaking revolutionary improvements for remote sensed inspection. Multispectral imaging, hyperspectral imaging, and SIF (solar-induced fluorescence) imaging can be broadly derived depending on spectral bands and resolution needed.

Eliot Dixon, Head of Engineering at Agri-EPI Centre said:
“We have established a strong sensing team within the company, able to deploy a range of spectral imagers into agriculture including some exciting unique capabilities. With our contextual farm data, storage facilities and analysis tools this is a key data service for developers which is available to all.”

Multispectral Imaging
The advantage of multi-spectral imaging is that it extends human sight sensitivity beyond visible spectrum. Some wavelengths that are widely recognized for particular applications, such as normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI), can be deployed into multi-spectral imaging. Nonetheless, it has been proven to be very useful in many other fields, greatly empowering advancement of agriculture. And the adoption of UAV has made it possible to make large-scale mapping and thus better agricultural management.

Agri-EPI Centre has invested MicaSense Altum sensor covering RGB, NIR, Red Edge and LWIR, which can be operated easily on VTOL UAV platform.

With this multi-spectral imaging system, several important vegetation indexes such as red edge, NDVI, can be quickly collected and mapped across survey fields.

Hyperspectral Imaging
Hyperspectral imaging captures images at hundreds of wavelengths, creating a detailed spectral signature of objects and materials. Compared to multispectral imagery, hyperspectral imagery measures energy in narrower and more numerous bands, thus giving much more information on target. Hyperspectral image data is a datacube, where each pixel holds full spectrum across the range. Since spectra are as unique as ‘fingerprint’ to target, hyperspectral imagery can unveil features that multispectral may miss out.

Agri-EPI Centre has invested in a range of hyperspectral imaging systems. Read below for more:

Spectral imaging brochure

Tackling Ash Dieback Disease with agri-tech

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Ash Dieback Disease (ADD) is a destructive disease of Ash trees, especially England’s native Ash species, that threatens forestry productivity and biodiversity in the UK. ADD was first detected in the UK in 2012 and is forecast to eventually kill 80% of UK ash trees, at a predicted cost of £15bn, with £7.6 billion being the estimate for the next 10years (Hill et al., 2019).

As one of England’s most useful and versatile native tree species, Ash provides an important commercial revenue stream to Ash growers who produce Ash across the UK. Ash timber is strong, durable, and flexible, with a wide range of practical uses such as tool handles, flooring, furniture, and joinery. Ash provides valuable habitat for a wide range of dependent species. It grows in a variety of soils and climatic conditions. The ‘airy’ nature of its foliage allows light to penetrate to the woodland floor, encouraging ground plants and fauna. Several insects, other invertebrates, lichens, and mosses depend wholly on Ash for habitat.

A collaborative project between Agri-EPI Centre and Vertinetik will use emerging technology to develop predictive models of ADD and other tree diseases, which can be integrated with decision support systems to inform management of England’s Ash trees. The project aims to provide an affordable solution to benefit smaller woodland owners in identifying disease infestations and taking proactive intervention measures to protect the economic and ecological value of Ash trees.

Kalique Dugarte, Co-founder of Vertinetik said:

“We are living through a period of climate crisis. Farmers and woodland owners sit at the front row among those having to experience it first. Changing weather patterns and alien invasive pests and diseases all represent new challenges to the preservation of woodlands. The severity of this challenge can be illustrated by Ash dieback and how an entire native tree species is under threat. So there is a call for action.”

“At Vertinetik, we believe in UAVs as a powerful low-cost alternative to the massification of technologies previously available to big budgets. Thanks to our project we will lower frictional costs to facilitate the mapping and monitoring of ash trees, record the state of the trees, and thus help farmers and woodland owners better manage ash dieback and plan routes to recovery and restoration of trees.”

On 6th June, Agri-EPI will host an online workshop in collaboration with Vertinetik about their project aimed at tackling the devastating impact of Ash dieback disease.

The workshop will provide the opportunity to brainstorm solutions that meet the needs of woodlands owners and learn more about the aims of the project. Speakers, including Kalique Dugarte, Kadmiel Maseyk and Joseph Fennell from Open University, and Simon James from Smallwoods, will provide an overview of the nature of the disease, the use of remote sensing for disease and stress detection, and the challenges of managing woodland areas affected by Ash Dieback.

Find out more here.

Automation and robotics for agriculture at Agri-EPI Centre

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Agri-EPI, the centre for precision innovation in farming, is a first choice for agri-tech developers, from start-ups right through to established companies, to help with creating robust and commercially viable agricultural solutions.

Our team believes that it is vital that new agricultural technologies are both relevant and robust, build on well described initial design goals created from a strong understanding of the needs of farmers and their operations. If that is not done, then there will be delays in the development of the product and eventually quality, which will have ongoing negative effects on the trust of farmers in the product. Short testing cycles compound that problem, so the data used to design and build the systems needs to be of very high quality.

Our offer
Agri-EPI offers a wide-ranging set of facilities, equipment, and services. Our farm network is a key part of this, enabling the testing spaces and long-term interaction with farmers which we rely upon. Within the engineering team, we support the farm network and projects through our data engineering, data analysis and robotics specialisms.

Key resources include:

  • Multi-modal agricultural data
  • Spectral imaging and sensing
  • Agricultural data analysis
  • System simulation
  • Development / Robotic platforms
  • Data and robotics in agriculture consulting

Find out more here:

Engineering R&D brochure

Pioneer dairy centre re-launched to test state-of-the-art technology

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Cutting edge facilities supporting sustainable milk production

Dairy production innovators have a novel, state-of-the-art facility in which to test technology following the relaunch of Agri-EPI Centre’s South West Dairy Development Centre (SWDDC).

Already established as a high-performing dairy innovation unit, the SWDDC has reopened following an extensive upgrade to install the latest robotic and sensor technology. Additions include a high-welfare, free access system for cows, integrating Lely A5 robotic milking systems with precision-grazing, while incorporating the existing GEA robotic feeding system. Galebreaker side curtains ensure the climate within the building is continually optimised.

The resource offers a truly innovative environment for developing, testing and demonstrating new technologies and techniques to support sustainable, efficient, high health and welfare, cost-efficient milk production. Located close to Shepton Mallet in the heart of the region’s milk field, the unit features a typically sized 180-cow herd run on a commercial basis and provides a platform for higher technology readiness level developers.

The building and facilities are run by precision engineering specialists, Agri-EPI Centre, while the herd is owned and managed by the Christensen family, trading as Steanbow Farms. and noted throughout the farming community for their efficient dairy and poultry enterprises. The project is supported by Innovate UK. All milk goes to local processors, Barber’s cheese.

“We are thrilled to reopen the Centre for business following the installation of an R&D platform focussing on integrating free grazing and automation ready for innovation,” explains Agri-EPI Centre Head of Agri-Tech (Dairy), Robert Morrison.

The Centre key areas of focus are to

· Provide state-of-the art facilities for research, development and demonstration with an emphasis on optimising productivity

· Integrate robotic milking with precision grazing

· Demonstrate profitable and resource efficient milk production techniques

· Demonstrate the highest standards of animal health and welfare and how technology can be used to optimise this

· Demonstrate routes to sustainable milk production by adopting circular dairy principles in all aspects of the production process

Steanbow Farms’ Neil Christensen comments:

“We’re keen to work with Agri-EPI as service providers on our farm. We want the Centre to do well which is why we created that relationship in the first place – for the future of the industry. A robotic demonstration farm is becoming more and more relevant as the industry tackles ever increasing labour challenges. This Centre is demonstrating systems and an approach; it’s a place for technology testing but also knowledge exchange and industry engagement.”

Robert Morrison adds:

“We look forward to developing new partnerships and projects – both funded and private research, which will continue our current themes featuring animal health and welfare, environmental sustainability, farm business sustainability, and feed and productivity.”

Download brochure

Live grain robot demo success on farm in the South West

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On Tuesday 14th March Agri-EPI hosted a live demonstration of the Crover grain monitoring robotic solution at Manor Farms, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, kindly hosted by Jeremy Padfield and Rob Addicott who farm in partnership together.

They are both tenants of the Duchy of Cornwall and have been a LEAF Demonstration Farm since 2006 and members of the Agri-EPI Innovation Farm network since 2017. Working together as neighbouring farmers has brought many benefits to Rob and Jeremy such as shared machinery and investment costs. It has also allowed them to take up a number of precision farming techniques to help their businesses become more sustainable, such as engaging in the Crover project.

Crover’s first-of-its-kind grain monitoring robotic solution allows for a greater understanding of the real situation of grains stored in bulk, thanks to its patented method for locomotion through bulk solids, enabling grain storage operators to implement accurate Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices to maintain the quality of their stock. The CROVER robot is the world’s first ‘underground drone’ in the sense of the first device able to propel itself below the surface of dense granular media such as sand, grains and powders.

It was a very successful event with great feedback and engagement from the guests and the demonstration in the grain shed went smoothly.

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Registered office: Agri-EPI Centre Midlands Agri-Tech Innovation Hub, Poultry Lane, Edgmond Newport, England, TF10 8JZ
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