Automated Agriculture

Within the Fraunhofer »Cognitive Agriculture« lighthouse project (short: »COGNAC«), eight Fraunhofer institutes carry out joint research on the foundations of a sustainable and productive agriculture of the future. The Fraunhofer IVI is one of three core institutes and works on several key topics:

• Development of a lightweight, fully electrified field robot unit 
  (drone + autonomously driving platform)
• Design of charging infrastructure
• Path planning for the automation of processes such as field work and loading methods
• Digital data space specific to agricultural purposes

• Link to the Website

CERES field robot

Through automation achieved with the help of field robotics, it is possible to continuously collect locally resolved sensor data needed to optimize agricultural processes. For this purpose, the CERES field robot (»Cognitive Electrical Robot Environment System«) was developed at Fraunhofer IVI as part of the COGNAC project. CERES has a full-electric drive system and is used to demonstrate the use case »weed removal without chemicals«.

• download the CERES brochure

The Feldschwarm^®  Innovative Regional Growth Core funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research unites seven enterprises and four research institutions that will join forces to develop basic technologies for autonomous field modules for resource-friendly farming:  

• Development of automated, self-propelled work machines for light soil tillage
• Development of conceptual foundations for the operation of field swarms and the control of swarms on farmland
• Development and testing of an operation and control system (helyOS) for the operation and control of swarms
• Testing of the simultaneous operation of several automated work machines  

Link to the Website (in German)