Fully Automatic Solar Panel Driven Field Robot

Greg Lamp, Contributor

FarmDroid FD20 is a fully automatic solar-panel-driven field robot that accurately plants seed and subsequently performs mechanical weed control.

GPS technology from Ag Leader marks the position of each seed, and four solar panels produce power for a battery package that provides 24 hours of planting.

Row distance, plant distance, seeding depth, speed and tolerances can all be adjusted to fit various crops, soil types and a farmer's individual needs. FarmDroid FD20 automatically stops and notifies the farmer if anything deviates from the settings.

Designed now for small-seeded vegetable crops like onions, spinach and rapeseed, it's lightweight (1,985 pounds) and can plant at .6 mph. Multiple robots can operate in one or more fields. The unit comes in 4-, 6- and 8-row models, and each seed box holds 1.5 gallons. In 2020, it was successfully tested on 3,750 acres in Europe.

"For now, we're focused on vegetable farming with small seeds. Corn and soybean seeds are too big, but maybe in the future," says Douglas Biazus, sales manager for Arvatec, which manufactures the FD20.

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-- For more information, visit www.farmdroid.dk

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