UK Robotics Week 2018 launches Agri-Tech whitepaper

As part of last week’s UK’s Robotics Week 2018, a new whitepaper is now available on Agri-Tech. The whitepaper provides an overview of the current impact and challenges facing Agri-Tech and discusses in-depth the use of robotics in this vital sector. Agri-EPI Centre contributed to its creation.

Summary outline

The ‘Agricultural Robotics: The Future of Robotic Agriculture’ whitepaper provides an overview of the current impact and challenges facing Agri-Tech, as well as associated ethical considerations. The in-depth report spans the current trends and technological advances, as well as potential barriers to overcome in achieving the sector’s full potential. The whitepaper includes clear recommendations for some of the challenges identified, and a basis for discussing the future technological roadmaps, and engaging the wider community, stakeholders and policy makers in assessing the potential social, economic, ethical and legal impact of RAS in agriculture.

Commenting on the launch, report author Professor Bruce Grieve of University of Manchester said:

“The recent commitment of a £90 million investment by the government really underlines the fact that Agri-Tech is a burgeoning market, so this whitepaper is a timely and important exploration of the use of robotics in this vital sector, which employs almost 4 million people and is larger than the automotive and aerospace sectors combined.

Agri-Tech companies are already working closely with UK farmers, using robotics and AI to help create new technologies and bring forward new innovations, so this is a truly exciting time for the industry as we look to transform the challenges facing global agriculture into opportunities for innovation, investment and commercial growth.”

More information

For more information about this and other whitepapers covering key areas of robotics and autonomous systems UK-RAS is preparing, visit the UK-RAS Network website.

About UK Robotics Week 2018

The UK Robotics Week initiative is jointly spearheaded by founding supporters, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), The Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and the UK-RAS Special Interest Group, and is being coordinated by the EPSRC UK-RAS network.

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