8
the official magazine of australia's sugarcane industry
SMART MACHINE ON DISPLAY
AT AN SRA DEMONSTRATION IN THE BURDEKIN
SUPPLIED BY SUGAR RESEARCH AUSTRALIA
Sugar Research Australia gave sugarcane growers an insight into the potential future of farming at a field demonstration of an autonomous farming vehicle and a smart crop sprayer at Brandon last month.
Designed and manufactured in Denmark, the Robotti has been imported by Bundaberg company, Farm Concepts. It is designed for precision operations such as seeding, weeding and spraying and can operate without a driver 24 hours a day, apart from refueling, solely guided by GPS and cameras. The AutoWeed crop sprayer was designed by James Cook University researchers in partnership with the agricultural technology company
AutoWeed in collaboration with Sugar Research Australia. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and spray weeds in cane fields. SRA Burdekin District Manager Terry Granshaw said the demonstration was held as part of activities under the 2024 District Productivity Plan for the Burdekin. “The district plan is developed with input from multiple stakeholders within a district. It includes an examination of the available automation and other innovative technologies which have the potential to improve the productivity and profitability of sugarcane production,” Terry said. “The Robotti challenges the idea that to be more efficient growers must use larger implements and bigger swathes. The negative impact of that is weight and its effect on soil compaction. The Robotti is relatively small and light weight and can turn in a tight circle for less impact on the soil. It also has autonomous record keeping—recording and mapping all applications,” he said. Farm Concepts Director Braden Hellmuth demonstrated the vehicle and showed the capabilities of both its hardware and software.
