California-based agriculture machinery manufacturer Guss Automation has launched an autonomous orchard sprayer.
The system uses a combination of GPS and lidar sensors to navigate the rows in an orchard, whilst spraying each tree with increased efficiency, precision and safety.
A Guss spokesperson said: “Our planet has a finite number of resources — yet the world’s population is growing exponentially.
“In order to feed more people using fixed resources, farmers must be able to work more quickly, efficiently, and consistently than ever before.
“Guss makes it possible for farmers to grow more food using fewer resources.”
A single employee can monitor up to eight sprayer systems at one time to help resolve labour shortages.
A user interface provides operators with important sprayer information including position, spray rate and speed in real time.
Furthermore, the solution has been designed to eliminate the chance for operators to be exposed to the materials being applied and reduces the need for personal protective equipment.
It also uses fewer resources to reduce costs and eliminate operator error and downtime.
Finally, sprayer speed can be adjusted via software parameters, whilst the solution works an entire field in variable terrain.
