Abstract

The concept of the driverless tractor has been discussed in the scientific literature for decades and several tractor manufacturers now have prototypes being field-tested. Although farmers will not be required to be physically present on these machines, it is envisioned that they will remain a part of the human-automation system. The overall efficiency and safety to be attained by autonomous agricultural machines (AAMs) will be correlated with the effectiveness of information sharing between the AAM and the farmer through what might be aptly called an automation interface. In this supervisory scenario, the farmer would be able to both receive status information and send instructions. In essence, supervisory control of an AAM is similar to the current scenario where farmers physically present on their machines obtain status information from displays integrated into the machine and from general sensory information that is available due to their proximity to the operating machine. Therefore, there is reason to expect that real-time sensory information would be valuable to the farmer when remotely supervising an AAM through an automation interface. This chapter will provide an overview of recent research that has been conducted on the role of real-time sensory information to the task of remotely supervising an AAM.

Highlights

  • For several decades, university researchers have devoted time and effort to the pursuit of developing a driverless tractor

  • There are advantages associated with each of these four distinct types of agricultural machines (AAMs). Those which retain the operator station provide flexibility to the farmer for those instances when it is desired that the human operator be physically present on the AAM; this is perhaps most critical in the early days when AAMs are being introduced to the market

  • Real-time visual information originates from cameras mounted on AAMs and must be transmitted to the automation interface, perhaps located at the edge of the field, to enable ‘edge-of-field’ remote supervision

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Summary

Introduction

University researchers have devoted time and effort to the pursuit of developing a driverless tractor. AAMs that resemble current tractors (except for the operator cab) and attach to implements in the same manner as existing tractors will reduce the capital cost associated with transitioning to autonomous agricultural production because the farmer will be able to continue to use existing implements. The integrated tractor reflects the situation where the engineer will be able to optimize the design of the tractorimplement system; it potentially enables design opportunities not present with the current paradigm of a tractor pulling an implement (which is a hold-over from the early concept of a horse pulling an implement). Regardless of how the AAM industry evolves, it would be foolish for designers to neglect how these autonomous machines will interact within the larger humanautonomy system. Appropriate principles from the discipline of human factors engineering will be essential to the successful integration of AAMs into production agriculture.

Supervision of autonomous agricultural machines
The role of the automation interface
Identifying information to include on an automation interface
Determining the appropriate ‘look zones’
Effect of camera placement on the usability of look-ahead visual information
Alerting the supervisor of a problem with the autonomous agricultural machine
Latency associated with transmission of real-time visual information
Case study: automation interface for an autonomous plot sprayer
Utilization of real-time auditory information
Findings
Conclusions
Full Text
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