There’s a swarm invasion headed for AmericaΆs cotton fields and Dr. Ed Barnes couldnΆt be more excited for it to arrive. DonΆt worry, Barnes isnΆt planning a boll weevil release. The Senior Director of Agricultural and Environmental Research at Cotton Incorporated is working on developing an army of small autonomous robots—swarm bots theyΆre often called—that promise to revolutionize the way cotton is harvested.
Affordable Super Pickers
“What weΆre envisioning is an autonomous bot that could cover 11 acres a day and go through the field 25-30 times in a season…so you have to imagine a swarm of them descending on a field and making quick work of it over a couple of days,” says Barnes. “We know thereΆs an average 60- to 80-day window when the boll is exposed to the elements…so if you can harvest within a day or two youΆve preserved optimum quality.”
Barnes says that to make this scenario possible, each bot would need to pick a cotton boll every three seconds at 3 miles an hour.
Now keeping in mind that one of todayΆs highly-mechanized six-row pickers can harvest 80 acres a day, why reinvent the wheel?
“Good question,” says Barnes. “The fact is, todayΆs picker does a great job…but itΆs expensive to buy and to run…and then youΆve got more than a half million dollar machine sitting in your garage for ten months. The bots beat the big guys in pretty much every way a grower would want.”
First off, because of their compact size, a grower could release an army of bots through the field—not just six rows like todayΆs picker, but as many rows as there are bots.
“WeΆre looking at an average bot cost of $4000 to $5000,” says Barnes. “So, for a fraction of the average cost (around $600,000) of one of todayΆs six-row pickers, a grower could invest in an army of bots and get the job done in a fraction of the time.”
Efficiency Experts
Barnes says the efficient picking style of the bot would also mean a swarm of them could finish a harvest in the optimum picking window and reduce the time the bolls were exposed to the elements.
“That means fewer bolls blown off the plant and a much shorter time of exposure to the elements,” Barnes points out. “And the weight alone of the machine, which is thousands of pounds lighter than a six-row picker which weighs in at over 66,000 pounds, would pretty much eliminate the problem of soil compaction.”
The most remarkable feature? No fuel needed. Barnes and his team are developing a cotton-picking robot that runs on solar power.
As if thatΆs not enough of a game-changer, he adds that the teamΆs goal is to make the bots multi-taskers. TodayΆs machine does one thing—pick. But if Barnes is able to achieve his goals, the bots would pick, weed, scout for pests and even do the initial ginning to compact the bales down to a more manageable size for transport to the final gin.
“Plus, our idea is to design it to handle additional attachments that could make the bot useful with other crops…for example if a farmer wants to convert to another crop due to economic conditions one season…or just add another crop to the mix.”
Barnes says there are already autonomous bots out there and some of the challenges have been met, which is a huge help for his team.
“The technology is there for logistics…and certain tasks,” he says, “and the good news is agricultural robots have lots of capabilities already. ItΆs only a matter of time for cotton.”
Getting Technical…ItΆs About Time
ItΆs no secret that cotton growers have been singled out as the one row crop that hasnΆt quite jumped on the precision ag bandwagon. But Barnes says itΆs not all the growersΆ fault.
“Yes, thereΆs been some resistance to investing in technology…even something as simple as yield mapping…and I do hear older farmers saying, ‘let my kid handle itΆ,” says Barnes. “But thereΆs more to the story. Cotton was one of the last row crops to even have a yield monitor available on the market, and itΆs only been in the last decade that itΆs been a factory-installed option, along with wireless data transfer. Now many more growers are taking advantage. I see a lot more enthusiasm than skepticism.”
Barnes says that, when it comes to precision ag, “we as engineers need to keep thinking of that easy button” for farmers.
“ThatΆs especially true when you think about smaller operations,” Barnes points out. “Investing in $600,000 picker…well thatΆs just not a sustainable purchase for them. Most farmers need at least 1000 acres to be a player. I think it would mean a revival for the industry because it would be a scalable solution…but with a swarm of small affordable bots to do the job, you wouldnΆt have to commit as many acres to a single crop…it would certainly invite smaller farmers to get involved.”
DonΆt Tell Me, Show Me
The final challenge, when small robotic pickers come to market (in as few as 10 years if BarnesΆ predictions are accurate) would be to convince growers that the bots work…and work better than what is currently on the market.
“WeΆll need…and we will have…hard proof that they do,” says Barnes. “WeΆll want scientifically robust algorithms…public demonstrations…the backing of precision ag consultants…all the things that growers need to trust the product.”
While weΆre waiting for the revolution, Barnes suggests staying on top of developments with regular visits to Cotton IncorporatedΆs educational website where Barnes and his colleagues provide fact sheets, updates and monthly webinars about a variety of topics impacting the cotton industry.
Barnes says thereΆs no better time for cotton growers to open their minds to all thatΆs new in precision ag technology for their crop.
“If you looked at before and felt precision ag technology was intimidating…now is the time to look at it again…five years has changed a lot,” he promises.
If Barnes has his way, ten more years will change everything.
Additional Resources:
For general resources about the cotton research and other industry information, click here.
To visit one of Cotton IncorporatedΆs microsites focusing on crop management resources, click here.
To read about advances and options in cotton crop monitoring software, click here.
