Toward fulfilling the robotic farming vision: Advances in sensors and controllers for agricultural applications

Real-time control is becoming an integral part of modern machine systems fo r high-quality agricultural production, Maintaining consistently high-quali ty agricultural production while keeping up with growing labor shortages is a challenge. Providing a work place for laborers which meets increasingly rigorous safety requirements and environmental constraints is likewise a ch allenge. More appropriate energy management and soil management have also m otivated real-time control applications. Appropriate sensing and control sy stems can reduce labor requirements, function in difficult environments, an d allow vehicles to adapt to varying soil chemical and physical states. Lab or shortages and environmental constraints coupled with the reality of spat ial variability of chemical and physical properties among and within agricu ltural production areas readily explain the migration toward real-time cont rol of agricultural equipment. This paper presents a review of the most rec ent advances in the development of sensors and controllers for agricultural applications.