An overview of weeding by robots – focus on European solutions
Résumé
This presentation addressed an overview of the European context, mowing towards data-intensive farming, driven by the agfood sector. It is an invited presentation in the framework of a meeting coordinated by Matthew Cutulle (Clemson University) for a Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) planning grant about Robotic Weed Control in Specialty Crops. The meeting was organized as a side event during the Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference. The presentation provides an overview of European trends on the topic, with a focus on the French institutional perspective aiming at the support and development of agricultural robotics to face the lack of labour and the willingness to phase out glyphosate. In this context, the RobAgri association was presented. The last part lists some sources of information about agricultural robotics, with a list of European sources of information on agricultural robotics and automation. The presentation ends with a list of robot examples that were compared from the agronomic point of view.