The R-Tech data rover – from prototype to commercial product

Manitoba has an opportunity to transform agriculture practices through advances in sensors, robotics, and machine learn-ing. Real-time, automated methods of in-field data collection are needed to increase productivity and sustainability in production agriculture, to expedite plant breeding and research, and to further the uptake of organic farming. To this end, we are developing a self-propelled, GPS-guided data rover for the rapid collection of plant images and environmental data in test plots, organic farms, and with partner EMILI, across a full-scale commercial farm. Large volumes of high-quality, in-field data are crucial for the development of crop scouting technology that will, for example, identify weeds amongst crops, characterize plant health and yield, or detect disease. This project is the next innovative leap by the Terra-Byte research group and its collaborators. A first data rover was designed and built by R-Tech Industries and fitted with GPS control by Northstar Robotics, both Manitoba companies. In-field testing and data collection will be used to update and improve this prototype into a final commercial product. As such, this project represents an exciting new frontier in the long and venerable tradition of agriculture implement development in Manitoba.

Faculty Supervisor:

Christopher Bidinosti;Christopher Henry;Christopher Henry

Student:

Partner:

R-Tech Industries Ltd.;Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Agriculture; Manufacturing

University:

University of Manitoba; University of Winnipeg

Program: