AgriRobotics Unleashed (ARU)

Agri-Robotics Unleashed （ARU）是一个完整的系统方法，通过将机器人收获解决方案集成到温室设计和新颖的树冠结构中，推动软果可持续生产力。机器人有可能通过降低运营成本、减少对季节性工人的依赖、提高资源（产量、能源、劳动力、投入）效率来颠覆农业部门。然而，在温室的早期部署显示出比最初预期的更艰巨和复杂的挑战。因此，机器人技术在商业农业设施中的应用有限。限制来自于种植者对机器人的潜力和限制缺乏全面的了解，以及机器人专家在农业系统假设薄弱的情况下工作。为了推动该领域的创新和生产力，必须重新考虑将先进的机器人技术整合到整个保护性种植系统中。我们需要自下而上地设计下一代温室，将机器人技术整合到以机器人为中心的设计中，而不是将次优解决方案改造到以人类为中心的环境中。以机器人为中心的设计可以利用以人类为中心的系统（例如路径）所浪费的空间，以及增加光拦截和植物密度的垂直种植阵列。我们的ARU提案旨在释放作物和机器人技术之间的这些转型协同效应；我们将探索如何通过以机器人为中心的树冠结构（垂直和水平）来增加光拦截，从而逐步改变产量、劳动生产率、资源效率和作物质量。然而，这一愿景需要(i)考虑到作物科学家、机器人专家和农民的需求，进行基础研究，重新设计收获系统；（ii）在以机器人为中心的垂直和水平结构中高密度种植时，提高对作物（在本例中为草莓）对光线和阴影的反应的理解；（iii）机器人与作物相互作用的数字化，以促进和优化设计。ARU输出将为；一个新的设计协议，以优化以机器人为中心的保护种植设计（用例草莓）。这将使用基于物理引擎（例如Gazebo）的机器人模拟器，并辅以以水平或垂直阵列种植的草莓的3D模型。了解作物如何对不同的以机器人为中心的设计做出反应，包括新型树冠结构的主要影响。世界上首次在商业温室展示了优化的机器人和作物设计，机器人采摘草莓果实。在研究和商业温室中进行为期两年的广泛实验和验证阶段，将产生数据，这些数据将展示一种在受保护环境中实现资源优化、增加产量、改善作物质量和精确作物管理的突破性方法。与领先的农民共同创造的可靠的数据知情结论将突出在受保护的作物环境中集成机器人的变革潜力。虽然目标作物是草莓，但我们的方法最终将扩展到任何需要机器人选择性收获的受保护作物。ARU为以机器人为中心的保护种植系统设计奠定了基础。

Agri-Robotics Unleashed (ARU) is a whole systems approach that drives soft fruit sustainable productivity by integrating robotic harvesting solutions into greenhouse design and novel canopy architectures. Robotics has the potential to disrupt the agricultural sector by decreasing running costs, reducing dependence on seasonal workers, and improving resource (yield, energy, labour, inputs) efficiency. However, early deployments in glasshouses have revealed challenges that are more daunting and complex than initially expected. As a result, there has been limited introduction of robotics in commercial agricultural facilities.Limitations arise from both growers lacking a comprehensive understanding of the potential and constraints of robots, as well as roboticists working with weak agri-system assumptions. To drive innovation and productivity within the sector, it is imperative to rethink the integration of advanced robotics into whole protected cropping systems. We need to design next generation greenhouses from the bottom up, integrating robotics into robo-centric designs, rather than retrofitting suboptimal solutions into otherwise human-centric environments.Robo-centric designs can exploit the wasted space encountered in human-centric systems (e.g. paths) as well as vertical cropping arrays that increase light interception and plant density. Our ARU proposal aims to unlock these transformational synergies between the crop and robotic technology; we will explore how yield, labour productivity, resource efficiency and crop quality can be stepped changed by robot-centric canopy architectures (vertically and horizontally) that increase light interception. However, this vision requires (i) fundamental research to redesign harvesting systems by taking into account crop scientists, roboticists and farmers requirements (ii) improved understanding of crop responses (in this instance strawberries) to light and shade when grown at high density in robot-centric vertical and horizontal architectures and (iii) the digitisation of robot-crop interactions to facilitate and optimise designs.ARU outputs will be;A novel design protocol to optimise robo-centric protected cropping designs (use case strawberries). This will use robotic simulators based on physics engines (e.g. Gazebo) complemented with 3D models of strawberry grown in horizontal or vertical arrays.An understanding of how the crop might respond to different robo-centric designs, including primary effects of novel canopy architectures.World's first demonstration of an optimised robot and crop design in a commercial greenhouse, with robots picking strawberry fruit.An extensive two-year experimental and validation phase in research and commercial greenhouses will generate data that will demonstrate a ground-breaking approach to resource optimization, increased yield, improved crop quality, and precise crop management in protected environments. The solid data-informed conclusions, co-created with leading farmers, will highlight the transformative potential of integrating robotics in protected crop environments. Whilst the target crop is strawberry, our approach will be ultimately extendable to any protected crops that require selective harvesting by robotics. ARU lays the foundation for robot-centric protected cropping system design.