The agricultural sector is continuously seeking innovative solutions to address challenges such as labor shortages, rising operational costs, and the need for more sustainable farming practices. Robotics Plus, a New Zealand-based agritech company, has introduced the Prospr Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) as a robust, autonomous, and multi-use platform designed to revolutionize orchard and vineyard management. This hybrid electric-diesel vehicle is engineered to enhance efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and provide valuable data-driven insights for growers.
The Prospr UGV stands out with its unique modular architecture, allowing it to adapt to a wide array of tasks throughout the year. Its intelligent systems, including advanced vision and LiDAR technologies, enable precise and targeted applications, such as varying spray rates based on real-time foliage detection. By automating routine and labor-intensive tasks, the Prospr UGV aims to free up human operators for more critical roles, contributing to improved worker safety and overall farm productivity.
Key Features
The Prospr UGV is built upon a unique modular architecture, providing growers with unparalleled flexibility. This design allows for the seamless rotation of various tools and attachments, transforming the vehicle from an intelligent sprayer to a mulcher or weed controller. This multi-purpose capability ensures year-round automation benefits and maximizes the utilization of a single machine, eliminating the need for multiple specialized vehicles.
At its core, the Prospr UGV offers fully autonomous operation, empowering a single human operator to supervise an entire fleet of vehicles. This advanced autonomy, coupled with sophisticated vision systems and other sensing technologies like LiDAR, allows the UGV to intelligently perceive its environment. This enables optimized tasks and highly targeted applications, such as adjusting spray flow rates in real-time based on foliage density, leading to significant reductions in input usage and improved efficacy.
Powering this innovative platform is a hybrid electric diesel system. Electric drive motors deliver superior torque and precise control, while a Tier 4 diesel generator ensures extended operational periods without the need for frequent recharging. The inclusion of regenerative braking and high-capacity batteries further enhances efficiency and range, contributing to minimized fuel consumption and a reduced carbon footprint. Its lightweight design, combined with an intelligent all-wheel-drive system and independent wheel motors, ensures excellent grip and control across diverse terrains, including challenging slopes, while also significantly reducing ground compaction to protect soil health.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Power System | Hybrid electric diesel (electric drive motors, Tier 4 diesel generator, regenerative braking, high-capacity batteries) |
| Maneuverability | Small footprint, unique electric steering, independent motors, turns on rear axle |
| Minimum Row Spacing | 1.8 meters (6 feet) |
| Headland Requirement | 6.4m (21ft) to 7.1m (23ft) for row-to-row turning |
| Terrain Capability | All-wheel-drive system, independent wheel motors, handles slopes up to 20ft (6.1m) and lateral slopes up to 10ft (3m) |
| Control | Autonomous; supervised in a fleet by a single human operator; can be controlled by two operators from a fixed or mobile console |
| Design | Modular, lightweight, easy to service (no hydraulic, gearbox, or differential fluids) |
| Engine Power (Generator) | 74 horsepower Kohler engine |
Use Cases & Applications
The Prospr UGV is designed to address a variety of critical tasks in orchards and vineyards, offering versatile solutions for modern farming. Its primary application is intelligent spraying, where it precisely varies flow rates and airspeed in zones to maximize efficacy and significantly reduce chemical inputs compared to traditional methods.
Beyond spraying, the modular platform allows for easy adaptation to other essential orchard and vineyard tasks, including targeted weed control, mulching, and mowing. This enables growers to automate multiple machine operations throughout the year using a single, adaptable vehicle.
Furthermore, the UGV is capable of advanced crop analysis, leveraging its vision systems to collect data for informed decision-making. This provides growers with valuable insights into crop health, yield predictions, and overall orchard or vineyard performance.
By automating these labor-intensive tasks, the Prospr UGV directly contributes to alleviating agriculture labor shortages and reducing reliance on costly and hard-to-find machine operators. It also improves worker safety by removing personnel from environments involving chemical exposure or potential tractor accidents.
Strengths & Weaknesses
| Strengths ✅ | Weaknesses ⚠️ |
|---|---|
| Multi-purpose modular platform allows for year-round automation and maximized machine utilization across various tasks (e.g., spraying, mowing, mulching, crop analysis). | Higher initial investment compared to traditional orchard tractors (which are around $100,000). |
| Autonomous operation with the ability for a single human operator to supervise a fleet of vehicles, addressing labor shortages and reducing operational costs. | Specific headland requirement of 6.4m (21ft) to 7.1m (23ft) for row-to-row turning, which may be a consideration for some orchard layouts. |
| Intelligent and targeted applications (e.g., spraying) using vision systems and LiDAR optimize efficacy and significantly reduce input consumption, leading to cost savings and environmental benefits. | Pricing is unconfirmed (as of late 2022), indicating potential variability or non-public pricing. |
| Hybrid electric diesel system provides superior torque, extended operation periods, minimized fuel consumption, and electric drive for all systems. | |
| High maneuverability with a small footprint, unique electric steering, and independent motors, allowing faster coverage and increased productivity in tight rows (1.8m minimum spacing). | |
| Lightweight design and intelligent all-wheel-drive system with independent wheel motors significantly reduce ground compaction, protecting soil health. | |
| Designed for easy serviceability with swappable modules and no hydraulic, gearbox, or differential fluids, reducing downtime and complexity. |
Benefits for Farmers
The Prospr UGV delivers substantial business value for farmers by directly addressing several critical pain points in modern agriculture. By automating tasks such as spraying, weed control, and mowing, it significantly reduces the reliance on manual labor, which is increasingly scarce and costly. This automation leads to considerable time savings and allows existing staff to be reallocated to higher-value activities.
The intelligent and targeted application capabilities, particularly for spraying, result in a measurable reduction in chemical inputs. This not only lowers operational costs but also contributes to greater environmental sustainability. The ability to optimize spray efficacy means better crop protection and potentially improved yield quality.
Furthermore, the UGV provides data-driven insights through its sensing technologies, enabling farmers to make more informed decisions regarding crop management, resource allocation, and overall farm strategy. The multi-purpose nature of the Prospr UGV maximizes asset utilization, offering a higher return on investment compared to single-function machinery. Improved worker safety, by removing personnel from hazardous environments, is an additional, invaluable benefit.
Integration & Compatibility
The Prospr UGV is designed as a flexible platform, making it highly adaptable to existing farm operations. Its modular architecture means it can integrate various tools and implements, including different spray configurations, allowing growers to switch between tasks seamlessly. This flexibility ensures that the UGV can fit into diverse crop types, growing formats, and heights.
While specific integration protocols with third-party farm management software are not detailed, the UGV's ability to provide data-driven insights suggests compatibility with modern agricultural data ecosystems. It is also designed to be supervised in a fleet by a single human operator, implying a system for managing multiple units and potentially integrating with broader farm automation strategies. Robotics Plus has partnered with leading technology suppliers, including Yamaha Motor Company, Autonomous Solutions, and Croplands, to ensure robustness and support, which typically facilitates smoother integration within a technology-driven farm.
Frequently Asked Questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How does this product work? | The Prospr UGV operates autonomously, utilizing advanced vision systems and LiDAR to navigate and sense its environment. It employs a modular architecture, allowing various attachments to perform tasks like intelligent spraying, where it dynamically adjusts flow rates based on foliage detection. It's powered by a hybrid electric-diesel system for extended operation. |
| What is the typical ROI? | The Prospr UGV offers significant ROI by alleviating labor shortages, reducing reliance on costly operators, and minimizing input costs through intelligent, targeted applications. Its multi-purpose design maximizes machine utilization, replacing multiple single-function vehicles and providing data-driven insights for improved decision-making. |
| What setup/installation is required? | The modular design of the Prospr UGV facilitates adaptable setup with various tools and attachments. While specific installation details aren't provided, its "swappable modules" and ease of serviceability suggest a streamlined process for configuring it for different tasks. |
| What maintenance is needed? | The Prospr UGV is designed for easy serviceability, notably lacking hydraulic, gearbox, or differential fluids, which simplifies maintenance. Operators can quickly swap out modules if a part fails, minimizing downtime and complexity. Routine checks include oil, fuel, water, and filter cleaning. |
| Is training required to use this? | While the UGV operates autonomously, it can be supervised in a fleet by a single human operator or controlled by two operators from a console. This indicates that some training would be required for operators to manage the autonomous fleet, interpret data, and oversee tasks effectively. |
| What systems does it integrate with? | The Prospr UGV is a flexible platform designed to adapt to a range of tools and implements, including various spray configurations. It provides data-driven insights for informed decision-making and is developed in partnership with leading technology suppliers, suggesting compatibility with modern agricultural data and management systems. |
Pricing & Availability
The Prospr UGV is positioned as a premium agricultural technology solution. While specific confirmed pricing is not publicly available (as of late 2022, alleged pricing was between $150,000 – $200,000), it is generally expected to cost more than a traditional orchard tractor, which typically ranges around $100,000. The final cost may vary depending on specific configurations, attachments, regional factors, and lead times. For precise pricing and availability information tailored to your needs, please contact us via the Make inquiry button on this page.
Support & Training
Robotics Plus emphasizes ease of use and serviceability for the Prospr UGV. The modular design simplifies maintenance, allowing operators to quickly swap out components if needed, thereby minimizing downtime. While the UGV operates autonomously, it is designed for human supervision, either by a single operator managing a fleet or by two operators from a console. This approach suggests that Robotics Plus provides necessary training to ensure operators are proficient in monitoring, managing, and optimizing the UGV's performance and interpreting the data it collects. The company’s partnerships with leading technology suppliers also contribute to robust product support.
