Biosensing typologies for agricultural robotics

Science and engineering R&D for agricultural robotics, including biosensing systems, is largely conducted on an application-specific basis. Much of that work is driven by stakeholder needs, which may be supported by private or public sector funding entities. While the resulting outcomes are useful, they often have limited applicability due to their “one off” nature. The typological and SWOT analyses reported here take a more application-agnostic view of biosensing for agricultural robotics to identify new R&D directions. Several typological dimensions are used; but these are not necessarily unique. From these classes, science and engineering needs are identified that offer a more generic perspective of the R&D required. By directing research on broader classes of problems, it is possible to advance agriculture robotics more quickly and deliberately than R&D focused on single-application problem solving. A cleaner separation between research and development can then occur, where only the latter includes application specifics.