Autonomous Equipment Can Improve Worker Safety
Published: Friday, December 6, 2024
A shrinking agricultural labor force is intensifying the need for mechanical and autonomous equipment capabilities to replace human hands that once performed the work. The need for autonomy is immediate and manufacturers are racing to meet demands for equipment that will replace human workers, particularly in the fruit, vegetable, and crop realms of agriculture.
Fewer workers will be needed when futuristic solutions such as AI-enabled personal protective equipment and specialized data collection equipment are fully integrated and become the norm. Farms that produce labor-intensive crops like leafy greens, orchards and vegetables have the most potential to benefit from labor savings. Fewer workers mean fewer people will be exposed to injury or fatality risks in the farm sector. However, autonomy and AI technology may do little to reduce fatality or injury rates per 100,000 workers.
According to Salah Issa, University of Illinois, the number of fatal farm incidents has declined since the early 1900s, but the number of farm workers has also declined as farm productivity, mechanization and safety features such as ROPS evolved. As of 2022, agriculture continues to be one of the deadliest occupations, with 21.3 deaths per 100,000 workers compared to three deaths per 100,000 workers for all other industries.
Total fatalities are down, but there are fewer workers to count, resulting in fatality rates that linger far above rates in other industries.
A mechanical weeder built by FarmWise controls weed pressure in delicate crops like spinach and lettuce that are labor intensive. One machine can replace 34 workers; scaled up, the savings in labor quickly pay for new equipment. A worker is required to operate the machinery and another alongside to make sure the equipment is working as designed. The replaced workers are no longer at risk for heat stroke; however, the lone worker is still working in the heat. The number of at-risk individuals has declined, but the injury or fatality rate may not match the number of people who are injured.
GUSS, or Global Unmanned Spray System can replace 15 workers using 12 tractors. Used in vineyards and high-density orchards, an operator sets the route and watches from the truck while the machine travels through the crop and applies spray.
High labor agriculture such as fruit and vegetable production will benefit more through new technologies than cash crop systems that are already lean on labor needs.
Reducing hazards is another way that farm workers can benefit from automation. The Grain Weevil robot is designed to clear grain bins, break crusts or evenly distribute fines—all dangerous jobs for humans. This type of equipment was designed specifically to reduce hazards, replacing the need for a human to enter a grain bin, and has potential to greatly reduce grain bin-related accidents.
According to ISSA, wearable sensory devices could mean the difference between life and death. Often, farmers are working alone. If an accident occurs, they may not be found until it is too late. If a warning system alerts another person of a serious situation, the operator's survival chances upon being rescued sooner rather than later increase significantly.
Multi modal models are an emerging tool that can help answer questions and solve problems by inputting photos, text and video of a farm situation. The technology analyzes the information, processes it, and offers solutions to address the issue. It can read and analyze a pdf format of an owner's manual to help process the problems and answer questions. This technology is not perfected yet, and there remain questions on accuracy, and hallucinating fact data.
Human/robot interactions can be a concern. Robotic safety features can be disabled. An operator could forget to re-engage the feature, and another operator working under the assumption that the feature is working could become injured.
The reliability of new technology is another point of concern for operators who could experience any number of problems when delicate instruments fail to operate as promised.
Since advanced AI is dependent on internet access, cyber security is something to consider, and an issue most farmers have never encountered. Large numbers of autonomous systems result in a larger target to be sabotaged.
These concepts are no longer a dream but quickly become reality. One set of hazards is replaced by a new set of hazards and the larger issues surrounding them like cyber-security, personal security and highly trained people who are available to repair increasingly complicated equipment.
Rural communities could shrink even more with the onset of labor, reducing equipment, creating a ripple effect through local businesses, schools and places of worship.
Labor savings and safety are two pieces of the complex puzzle that is autonomous equipment. The inevitable march is toward embracing more autonomy which carries both advantages and disadvantages for farms and rural communities.
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