AUTONOMOUS technology marks a transformative leap in agriculture, enabling innovative techniques and approaches that were once deemed impractical or beyond reach.
Queensland based company SwarmFarm has emerged as an innovative leader in the development of agricultural robots for crop production, having developed a new operating system for agriculture.
“Our machines are empowering farmers with new technology, so they can deploy new farming methods and field practices to revolutionise food production,” SwarmFarm CEO Andrew Bate said.
“Our robots are transforming farming systems from the ground up, with a delivery platform to introduce new farming methods and techniques that are only possible onboard a robot.”
The company is one of few worldwide with real robots working across a range of farms throughout Australia.
“SwarmFarm robots are not simply a driverless tractor that automates existing field operations,” Mr Bate said.
“We believe that robots are the obvious progression after the tractor. They are lightweight, efficient and autonomous machines loaded with technology that allows new methods of farming that is simply not possible on the back of a tractor.”
The innovative SwarmFarm journey started in 2012.
“We decided enough was enough and farming couldn’t continue with larger and more complicated machines,” Mr Bate said.
“We had a clear vision to create better farming systems and unlock the promise of autonomous agriculture.”
Leveraging their farming operations in Central Queensland as a live testing ground, SwarmFarm partnered with two leading universities to develop their first prototype.
In 2014, the company’s first SwarmBot became a reality.
“We set out to simplify agriculture, to challenge the current paradigm for large, cumbersome machinery,” Mr Bate said.
Having undergone extensive research and development, all design and manufacturing was brought back in house, and SwarmFarm’s first commercial delivery took place in 2018.
“Today, our team has successfully deployed autonomous robots to farmers, who have used them to commercially farm over 5.1 million acres, operating 220,000 hours and reducing pesticide inputs by an estimated four million litres,” Mr Bate said.
SwarmFarm will attend the Mallee Machinery Field Days for the first time this year, where they will showcase their autonomous units, with demonstrations throughout the two days.
You can find SwarmFarm at site 140.
