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SUMMARY:Robotics in Agriculture - Prof Simon Blackmore\, Harper Adams
DTSTART:20160111T120000Z
DTEND:20160111T130000Z
UID:TALK63085@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Josie Hughes
DESCRIPTION:Developed  agriculture  uses  massive  amounts  of  energy  in
   a  myriad  of forms\,  from  the  energy  associated  with chemicals  us
 ed  to  control  pests and diseases\, through fertilisers\, to the tractor
 s themselves and the fuel to power them.  This energy is often wasted as i
 t goes off-target\, is expensive and will become more so in the future.\n\
 nSmarter machines should use the minimum amount of energy to turn the natu
 ral environment into useful agriculture thus cutting out wasted energy and
  reducing costs.  As agricultural engineers we are continually looking to 
 find  ways  of  making  the  crop  and  animal  production  processes  mor
 e efficient and have developed the concept of Precision Farming\, where we
  recognise  the  natural  variability  found  on  our  farms  and  change 
  the management and treatments to suit.  This variability takes both spati
 al and temporal  forms.    Spatial  variability  can  be  understood  and 
  managed  by creating   yield   maps   and   soil   maps.      Temporal   
 variability   is   often fundamentally  linked  to  changes  in  weather  
 over  time  resulting  in  the need for real-time management.\n\nIn  indus
 try\,  we  used  to  have  a  production  line  mass  producing  one  item
  and  are  now  moving  over  to  flexible  manufacturing\,  where  each  
 item  is developed  individually.    In  agriculture  we  can  see  a  sim
 ilar  approach  by reducing the scale of treatments from farm scale\, to f
 ield scale\, to sub-field scale and even individual plant treatment. 
LOCATION:CUED\,Board Room
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