Development of Robotics and Augmented Reality for Animal Agriculture

In several branches and regions, the agricultural sector faces difficulties due to lack and/or aging of workforce, making it imperative to explore innovative technologies. Managing just 11% of all farm holdings in the European Union (EU), farmers aged under 40 face a considerable challenge, with female young farmers representing a mere 3%. The intensive poultry production in the EU is facing criticism for limiting the egg-laying period to under 60 weeks and having a significant portion (45% in 2021) of hens reared in caged systems, affecting their well-being. The EU is transitioning to more welfare-friendly laying systems aligned with the Farm to Fork Strategy and Green Deal. Cage-free production poses challenges like feather pecking and abnormal egg laying, requiring careful daily farmer observations. Farmers currently address issues in poultry production through thorough daily inspections. This involves monitoring various aspects such as floor eggs, body condition, flock growth variation, respiration rate, plumage condition, signs of pecking, and the overall health of various body parts, including droppings, eyes, skin, beak, legs, feet, and claws. Additionally, farmers pay attention to external parasites, feed and water consumption and litter quality. Automation through robotic systems for poultry inspection can enhance precision in animal welfare management. In this project, an automated flock-level monitoring and stimulation solution for poultry management will be developed. The livestock husbandry robotic solution will (a) include an integrated automated system for continuous and objective monitoring of laying hen health and welfare. This involves augmenting the environment to prevent negative behaviours and operates at both flock and individual animal levels; (b) a mobile platform will be designed to pick up objects like eggs and dead birds from the litter, aiming to reduce the time farmers spend in the barn and enhance the value of their visits. The development will include a quadruped legged robot with a robotic arm, equipped with RGB-D and thermal sensors for poultry evaluation and egg manipulation. Integrating the system with VR/AR in poultry production environments is planned, providing farmers with VR-goggles for information on challenging-to-measure animal conditions.

Keywords:Agricultural robotics, Livestock technology

Disciplines:Animal health engineering

Project type:PhD project