Australia to demonstrate their first fully automated farm using robots and AI

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is reporting on a 1,900 hectare farm that will be fully automated at a cost of $20 million AUD in a joint project between Charles Sturt University and Food Agility Co-operative Research Centre.

Further details from Food Agility’s media release include:

Food Agility CEO, Mr Richard Norton, said the reality of a ‘hands-free farming’ was closer than many realised and would be accelerated by the development and dissemination of technology and knowledge produced by the GDF.

“Full automation is nota distant concept, we already have mines in the Pilbara operated entirely through automation,” he said.

“It won’t be too many years before technology will take farmers out of the field and immerse them in the world of robotics, automation and artificial intelligence.

“Food Agility, Charles Sturt University and the Riverina will be at the forefront of that transformation in Australia courtesy of the Global Digital Farm.”

The Global Digital Farm will develop and operate:

* Fully autonomous machinery – robotic tractors, harvesters, survey equipment and drones

* Artificial intelligence informing management decisions around sowing, dressing and harvesting

* A state-of-the-art cyber-secure environment establishing best practice management of the emerging cybersecurity risks in food production

* New sensor technologies measuring the interactions between plants, soils and animals

* Evidence-based sustainability practices and models

* Carbon management and measurement models