Tech boffins declare farmers might be changed by robots in new agricultural revolution
Tech chiefs say robot farmers could be the ‘next stage’ in agricultural innovation as they can now harvest, plant and prune just like humans – and work round the clock
Jeremy Clarkson could replace himself with a robot(Image: Getty)
TV viewers should brace themselves for Clark-bot’s Farm – after boffins warned humanoids can work like real farmers.
In the latest series of Jeremy Clarkson’s hit reality show he was shown embracing technology to plough fields, plant onions and work out the most nutritious soil to seed.
But according to experts the next agricultural gadget could be a robot Jeremy.
Robotics specialist Professor Fernando Auat Cheein, from Harper Adams University in Shropshire, said humanoids could be the ‘next stage’ in farming automation.
He said robots shared ‘similar capabilities’ to humans and could be deployed to do the same work much quicker.
“A humanoid has the same degree of freedom, the same ability as the human body, so we can programme the robot not to solve one problem but to solve many of them,” he said.
Cheein, a professor of engineering at the university, said human-shaped robots could carry out existing tasks that farmers do such as harvesting, planting or pruning.
Farmer bots on the way
The robots could also be adapted to complete the work faster. Once perfected, programming could be replicated across 1,000 or more robots which could work 24/7.
Cheein said there could still be a role for Jeremy in future as the aim was not to replace people but instead have technology working alongside them to lighten their load.
Ideally humanoids would be sharing the workspace or tasks with people, he said.
“The robot and ourselves in the same environment should co-exist in some sense and for that we need the robot to have social skills,” he said.
“So we can deploy the humanoid to do the work that we can do.”
One farmer said: “I wouldn’t mind having a robot to get up at 4am to plough the top field.
“If I can train it to lean on a gate, chew straw and shout ‘get off my land’ then happy days.”
