In precision agriculture, crucial limitations are addressed in agri-robotics as their development has been focused, until now, on task-specific implementations. FarmB introduces an integrated route-planning system enabling two-way communication between unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and a farm management information system (FMIS). This breakthrough facilitates real-time decision making and provides continuous feedback.

The integrated system’s key features include:

1. Advanced route-planning algorithms: The system includes sophisticated algorithms that use field data from the farmB FMIS, adapt to different field shapes, sizes, and operational constraints, and provide either conventional types of field-work patters or optimal patterns (B-patterns) that optimize the operational time.
2. User-Friendly Interface: FarmB empowers farmers through a user-friendly interface, allowing them to customize different parameters, such as working width, UGV kinematics, turning types, and more, to adapt the system to different farming operation requirements.
3. Integration with ROS and farmB FMIS: Utilizing the Robot Operating System (ROS) guarantees efficient communication, and the integration with farmB FMIS ensures accurate field data, enhancing the precision of route planning.
4. Communicational and Computational Unit (CCU) and analytics: The CCU provides two-way communication, offering real-time data exchange and analytics on total traversing distance, time, plan efficiency and machine productivity.

1. Operational Efficiency: System reduces non-working distances and operation time, improving field-traversal efficiency, resulting in decreased fuel consumption and cost savings.
2. Adaptability to field variability: Handles different field shapes and work patterns.
3. Adaptability to different UGVs: CCU allows system to work with various UGVs equipped with ROS.
4. Real-Time Decision Support: Enables farmers to monitor UGV progress and make timely adjustments, reduces manual intervention, and enhances UGV’s autonomous capabilities.

FarmB provides a user-friendly dynamic platform for simulation and testing, allowing farmers to fine-tune machinery parameters and select the most efficient field coverage configuration. The platform displays user’s input parameters, a map visualizing the optimized route and key performance indicators. With a simple ‘send navigation plan’ click, the optimized plan can be transferred to UGV’s ensuring real-time implementation of optimized routes.