Embracing Robotics and Intelligent Machine Systems for Smart Agricultural Applications [From the Guest Editors]

Eldert J. van Henten, Carlos Montenegro, Marija Popovic, Stavros Vougioukas, Alfred Daniel, Guangjie Han

Abstract: High tech to feed the world! This slogan was launched some 10 years ago in The Netherlands to direct research on high tech for agricultural production. It responded to an urgent concern about the needs of a growing world population for food, feed, fibers, and basic chemical components. By the way, make no mistake, agriculture does not only provide food! Anyway, the slogan represented the vibrant optimism about the potential of technology in support of this quest. And for good reasons! Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) in the recent past allowed us to go beyond far-fetched visions and speculations and put these technologies to the test on the fields, in the greenhouses, in the orchards, and in livestock barns. Definitely, this trend is not limited to The Netherlands. When monitoring academic and professional literature, the rapidly growing number of publications in the past 10 years addressing robotics and AI in the agricultural context is clear proof of a worldwide trend.