AgriEngineering (May 2021)

Opportunities for Robotic Systems and Automation in Cotton Production

  • Edward Barnes,
  • Gaylon Morgan,
  • Kater Hake,
  • Jon Devine,
  • Ryan Kurtz,
  • Gregory Ibendahl,
  • Ajay Sharda,
  • Glen Rains,
  • John Snider,
  • Joe Mari Maja,
  • J. Alex Thomasson,
  • Yuzhen Lu,
  • Hussein Gharakhani,
  • James Griffin,
  • Emi Kimura,
  • Robert Hardin,
  • Tyson Raper,
  • Sierra Young,
  • Kadeghe Fue,
  • Mathew Pelletier,
  • John Wanjura,
  • Greg Holt

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/agriengineering3020023
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 2
pp. 339 – 362

Abstract

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Automation continues to play a greater role in agricultural production with commercial systems now available for machine vision identification of weeds and other pests, autonomous weed control, and robotic harvesters for fruits and vegetables. The growing availability of autonomous machines in agriculture indicates that there are opportunities to increase automation in cotton production. This article considers how current and future advances in automation has, could, or will impact cotton production practices. The results are organized to follow the cotton production process from land preparation to planting to within season management through harvesting and ginning. For each step, current and potential opportunities to automate processes are discussed. Specific examples include advances in automated weed control and progress made in the use of robotic systems for cotton harvesting.

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