October 18, 2023

Mobile robots are increasingly being used in the agricultural industry. During this session, you will hear from a pioneer in the agricultural robotics industry, with vast experience developing and deploying mobile robots on working farms. The primary objective of Burro mobile robots is to assist in the transportation of goods, alleviating the workload of farm laborers and enhancing the overall efficiency of farm operations.

Robotics for next generation applications in the field are often a well-synchronized combination of three key capabilities – mobility, manipulation and sensing. Of these three capabilities, robotic mobility and manipulation are especially challenging because the tasks and workspaces are highly variable, and often unpredictable. Identifying new approaches, and enabling robots to be rapidly reconfigured, are key to unlocking the real value of automation in the field.

In this session, HEBI Robotics will present recent innovative approaches to mobility and manipulation that have been incorporated into robotic systems across a variety of applications and industries.

Examples include:
• An inchworm-like arm that navigates around confined spaces via suction or magnets and deploys tools in extremely difficult to reach spaces.
• An in-pipe crawler ‘train’ that can be modified to fit a variety of pipe sizes and deploy tooling / sensors in complex pipe structures with multiple bends.
• A multi-purpose mobile robot that can be reconfigured in the field to support a wide variety of sensors and tooling, and can even be adjusted in the field to swap out different types of wheels and treads.