AI.Land Uses Skylark to Enable its Autonomous Agricultural Robot to Effectively Navigate Farmland

“Precise localization is needed for our autonomous field robot, to ensure open field navigation that allows the robot to accomplish precision farming tasks.”

Josef Franko, Co-founder AI.Land

Today's farmers face many challenges, such as the steadily growing global population, a shortage of skilled farm workers in many countries and increased regulations. There is growing demand for more sustainable and safer provisioning of pesticides and fertilizers, as well as increasing electrification and automation of agricultural machinery to increase operational efficiency.

AI.Land is a German company promoting automation and digitalization for the agricultural sector. They offer innovative solutions in the fields of R&D, product development, systems engineering, design, and services with a focus on robotics and AI.

AI.Land's autonomous field robot, ETAROB, aims to decrease monotonous and physically demanding fieldwork with automation and integrated digitization. It automates farm work that is repetitive, labor-intensive, physically exhausting, and costly. The compatibility of the robot's sensor module with various attachment tools enables it to be adapted to any work process, such as weed control, fertilization, or harvesting. Precise GNSS positioning allows AI.Land to determine their field robot’s absolute position with increased accuracy. This information is crucial to enable a secure geofence around the field so the robot can operate safely and efficiently.

Swift’s Skylark Precise Positioning Service helps ETAROB navigate in the defined farm area and manage its path while performing automated tasks. Together with odometry, IMU data, and plant pattern recognition, the robot recognized the troublesome weeds and accomplished selective weeding, allowing farmers to realize the full potential of digital, precision farming.