S18 - Session O3 - Trektor: a robotic solution for a complete agricultural cycle in spinach cultures

Authors: Clément Aubry-Tardif *, Fabien Arignon

Increasing demands for food production, lack of workforce, and new environmental regulations regarding the use of chemicals are raising the interest in automated agricultural machinery. Indeed, autonomous agricultural robots offer new and innovative approaches to improving production means through the automation of agricultural practices. In this presentation, SITIA, a french SME, presents its robotic platform Trektor: a versatile agricultural robot designed to intervene on different crops in horticulture and specialized high-value crops. Moreover, Trektor can achieve a high work rate thanks to its hybrid design that combines the efficiency of electric power with the endurance of diesel. To illustrate the premise of our robot, Trektor was deployed to automate a complete agricultural cycle in a spinach culture, from tillage and sowing to harvesting. We present all the design elements that led to this application: including the energy efficiency, versatility and compatibility with a wide variety of implements, GNSS-based navigation, machine vision, and the Human-Machine interface.