Agricultural robots: an economic feasibility study

Abstract

This paper focuses on the economic feasibility of applying autonomous robotic vehicles compared to conventional systems in three different applications: robotic weeding in high value crops (particularly sugar beet), crop scouting in cereals and cutting grass on golf courses. The comparison is based on a systems analysis and an individual economic feasibility study for each of the three applications. The results showed that in all three scenarios, the robotic applications are more economically feasible than the conventional systems. The high cost of RTK-GPS and the small capacity of the vehicles are the main parameters that increase the cost of the robotic systems.