Review of agricultural field robots and their applicability in potato cultivation

Abstract

This paper lists the potential, challenges and requirements of autonomous field robots for potato production. It presents an overview of existing autonomous field robots in arable farming, evaluates their suitability for potato production based on literature findings and gives an outlook on possible future solutions. The analysis was confined to the European market. In summary, 17 commercially available field robots, 4 robots in the test phase and 14 prototypes in the development phase were identified. The minimum requirements identified for field robots to enable their application in a potato field are primarily geometric due to the specific ridge structure and the habitus of potato plants. As a result, the field robot must have a track width of 0.75 m or a multiple of this dimension. In addition, a ground clearance between 0.35 m and 0.8 m must be ensured. The evaluation showed that two of the identified market-ready robot systems fulfilled the identified minimum requirements.