Robotisation of forestry harvesting in New Zealand — An overview

Mechanization of forestry harvesting has significant and proven cost, productivity and safety benefits. However, safety concerns mean conventional mechanised harvesting cannot be used in steep terrain (>22° slope) in New Zealand. This means that manual harvesting must still be used in the most dangerous conditions. This paper outlines a project being run by the University of Canterbury in partnership with Scion Research and Future Forests Research to develop a teleoperated steep slope forestry harvester that is appropriate for use in the New Zealand environment. The challenges of the project include overcoming communication delay, latency and packet loss; ensuring stability and safety; presenting information to the operator in an appropriate way and ensuring the harvester stays stable and easily controllable.