KFAST (Kubota Fede Autonomous Spraying Know-how) is an autonomous sprayer idea for speciality crops designed to satisfy EU laws and goals of the Inexperienced Deal.
The KFAST robotic idea, collectively developed by Kubota and Fede, autonomously applies phytosanitary therapies and gives the choice of remote-control steering. Its structural design and newly developed 4×4 traction guarantee clean motion, exact turning, and correct positioning within the narrowest rows of specialty crop fields. This massive-capacity autonomous sprayer could be geared up with numerous air methods to satisfy the precise necessities of various plantations.
Ongoing therapies are monitored and displayed on the Specialty Crops Platform (SCP), Fede’s digital agronomic administration software. As well as, KFAST sends alerts in case of incident or parameter out of vary, together with the detection of empty spraying and diesel tank to autonomously return to the station for refilling. As soon as the remedy is accomplished, all the information is registered, offering actual traceability and required data to generate the digital farm ebook.
KFAST will considerably enhance the productiveness and effectivity of labor within the plantation, since a single operator can handle 4 robots at a time and allows to hold out night-time duties. With goals to be an answer to the shortage of labour downside, as nicely and the generational renewal, within the agricultural sector. Moreover, it improves the occupational security and well being by eliminating the dangers of accidents and drastically lowering occupational publicity to pesticides.
As soon as the work order is obtained, Fede’s autonomous sprayer idea goes to the assigned row to begin the remedy. KFAST, geared up with the AIs system, an modern expertise that performs high-precision therapies by picture seize and AI processing. The robotic adapts the spraying in actual time with individualised management of the nozzles to regulate the appliance tree by tree whereas sustaining a continuing strain and software stream in every open nozzle with a homogeneous distribution and deposition of the remedy.
KFAST idea stands out for its exceptional discount in pesticide use and soil degradation, each key goals within the EU Inexperienced Deal. The system registers financial savings in the usage of pesticides of as much as 40%, based on the sector assessments outcomes carried out inside the Life-AIs venture, which enhance considerably when finishing up therapies primarily based on the prescription of variable software maps (VRA). On the similar time, it relieves soil compaction by shifting solely 4 wheels all the time following the identical axis, lowering the variety of tons supported by the soil and minimising displacements.
Moreover, the indications generated by KFAST picture seize provide up to date knowledge on the state of the plantation, priceless data that can be utilized by third events to supply their agronomic providers. KFAST is distinguished for being an open system that permits the combination a variety of service suppliers similar to pest detection, yield prediction, farm administration data methods, amongst others.
The KFAST idea, Kubota Fede Autonomous Spraying Know-how, has been awarded as Technical Novelty at FIMA 2024, a worldwide benchmark occasion within the agricultural equipment sector for specialty crops.
