Slow Solar Autonomous Agriculture
The concept of using autonomous solar vehicles - moving slowly all day without an operator - to perform agricultural tasks that would otherwise be done with diesel- and other fossil-fuel burning tractors. This can be done with PV panels and without using storage batteries, thus keeping system cost low. Autonomous operation is the enabler. This turns agriculture into carbon neutral, regenerative agriculture.
This can be implemented with open source platforms such as the Robotic Operating System and Ardupilot Rover, augmented with OpenCV and potentially OpenAI. The enabler here is open source automation - which enables slow operation using photovoltaic energy - because speed is not an issue. If hydraulic drive is used - the torque remains the same, though the speed is slower. Could also use smaller gpm hydraulic hoses and valves to reduce costs.
Industry Standards - Proprietary
- RIPPA [1]
