Remote supervision of autonomous agricultural sprayers: the farmer’s perspective

Canadian Biosystems Engineering

article

Uduak Edet¹  Eric Hawley¹  Danny D. Mann¹ 

[1] Department of Biosystems Engineering, University of Manitoba

关键词: Agricultural machine;    autonomous;    remote supervision;    sprayer;    interface design;   

DOI  :  10.7451/CBE.2018.60.2.19

学科分类：农业科学（综合）

来源: Canadian Society of Agricultural Engineering

【 摘 要 】

The autonomous agricultural machine may soon be areality. For it to be commercially viable, designers must alsoconsider the design of the interface that will be used toremotely supervise the operation of the autonomousmachine. Before the interface can be designed, however, itis necessary to understand the information required by theindividual supervising the machine from a remote locationHence, the goal of this study was to determine theexpectations of farmers regarding autonomous agriculturalmachines (specifically, an autonomous sprayer), and todetermine the essential information that should be providedon the interface to enable the farmer to supervise theoperation of an autonomous sprayer remotely. Aquestionnaire was developed and distributed to farmers andagriculture students attending western Canadianuniversities. In a follow-up study, experienced, operatorswere then asked to rank each parameter that wasrecommended from the survey using a five-point Likertscale. Findings indicated that sprayer operators are willingto accept an autonomous sprayer. However, to increase theease of adoption, certain conditions need to be met.Parameters and features that were recommended varied intheir level of importance and frequency of usage. Theseresults will help designers minimize the chance ofovercrowding the interface with irrelevant information. Itwill also assist designers with organization of informationbased on the needs of the farmer and in a way that willincrease the situation awareness of the farmer.

【 授权许可】

CC BY