Small autonomous robots are being trialled
as bird deterrents across Marlborough this
growing season as the developer looks to
demonstrate their utility in the role.
Josh
McCulloch is the founder of Autonabit, a
start-up building small autonomous robots
for vineyards. The robots use bird bangers,
sirens, kites, and reflectors to protect the
vines.
Josh explains that because they are
autonomous, the robots are always moving
and don’t require manual repositioning.
At the end of the day’s operation, they
return home to charge autonomously. “We
aim to massively reduce the economic
and environmental impact of operating a
vineyard. If we start deploying small robots
in vineyards, we can eliminate the number
of tasks that tractors and tractor drivers
have to do,” Josh says.
“Our Autonomous Vineyard (AV) vehicle
is a four-wheel drive, electric vehicle,
and it can navigate autonomously in the
vineyard. We’re this season going to be
operating in a bird management role. On
top of that, we are currently prototyping
an under-vine mower. So that’s where we
get into eliminating the environmental and
economic impact of operating tractors.”
While he is based in Christchurch, Josh
grew up amongst the vines in Rapaura
and realised the robotics technologies he
was developing through the University of
Canterbury had obvious applications as
bird deterrents. Throughout the current
growing season, he is deploying at least
five autonomous robots as part of the trial
programme, working with wine companies
such as Wither Hills, aiming to prove how
the vehicles offer a “set and forget” approach
to bird protection.
The current prototype of the AV is the
third iteration of the design, which features
a more robust vehicle design and more
secure communications connectivity. The
day before Winegrower Magazine’s visit, the
robots were driven continuously for more
than seven hours, covering 42km, using an
estimated 20 cents of electricity.
Before the AV is deployed, the vineyard
is surveyed, and the vehicles then use
GPS for navigation with a camera on the
front to avoid unexpected obstacles. The
robot’s software is built around the Robot
Operating System (ROS) framework,
with application-specific code developed
to tailor it for vineyards. A dashboard
provides control of deployed robots, with
the updating camera view showing each
vehicle’s current surroundings.
One of the engineering challenges Josh
faces is elevating the GPS antenna above
the level of the vine canopy for improved
navigation reliability, an aspect that is better
addressed by the latest design. Josh says
while every vineyard manager has their own
methodology for bird deterrence, the robots
were designed to employ existing tools such
as kites, sirens and gas guns. “We’re not
trying to sell you on a new way of doing
it – you can use your existing tools, but now
you can cut down the management of them.
For a larger operation, say 30 hectares, you
might have two or three robots and put the
bird banger on one, the kite on the other
and the siren on the third. And then each
day, they might do a different block.”
Operators can reconfigure coverage
through the dashboard, allowing the robots
to cover different areas as needed. In a
bird-scaring context, the fact that the robots
remain on the move is a deterrent in and of
itself.
“I’ve heard stories about birds actually
sitting on bird bangers. I think maybe they
learned the cycle – they know they can sit
there for the next 10 minutes before it goes
off. So, we’re hoping that by keeping things
moving, we can keep the birds on their
toes.”