This is reported by Ukrinform with reference to the developer company Afara Agricultural Technologies.

“After mechanical harvesting with harvesters, 5 to 20 percent of the cotton crop remains in the field. In Turkey and other countries, these residues are usually collected by hand. This is a very laborious and time-consuming job. Our development is designed to automate this process,” explained the developers.

The robot is equipped with four RGB cameras, two Lidar sensors (technology for obtaining and processing information about distant objects) and ultrasonic sensors. Cameras are used to detect cotton debris, while Lidar sensors are designed to detect obstacles and people in the robot’s path. If cotton is detected, a signal is given and the automatic “hand” sucks the uncollected cotton into the on-board container. Upon completion of the development, the detection and collection rate of cotton is planned to reach 99.8 percent, currently the figure is 71 percent.

A foraging robot called AFARA-COTTON was developed on a family cotton farm. It can replace 25 cotton pickers. Commercial rollout and production start is planned for the end of the year.

According to Ukrinform, a robot for remote firing was created in Sumy.

Photo: Afara Technology