Patent ID: 6671582
Filing Date: 2003-12-30
Classification: A01B,B25J,G05B,G05D

Abstract:
A flexible agricultural automation for any type of: pruning, harvesting, weeding, trimming, tying, planting, spraying, pollinating or other operations on plants, comprising:(a) a mobile robotic machine mounted on a means of locomotion with controls for guiding the machine by an operator (b) one or more types of sensing apparatus mounted on the machine substantially like machine vision, laser raster scanned three-dimensional mapping, microwave radar, ultrasonic, infrared, chemical and touch sensors (c) robotic arm or a plurality of robotic arms mounted on the machine which are equipped with means for tracking movement of same (d) a means of decision processing substantially like a computer and/or artificial intelligence electronics or simulations of same for and control the movement of robot arm or arms wherein the sensor data are utilized by the computer and/or artificial intelligence electronics to decide how to move the robot arm or arms, as well as guide the machine as a whole when necessary, wherein the robot arm or arms can have varying attachments, and the decision processing may refer ambiguous situations to a human operator for resolution.