# Advanced Applications of Industrial Robotics: New Trends and Possibilities
## 3 Recent Achievements in Industrial Robotics Classified according to Implementation Area
### Agricultural Applications  
Agricultural robots are a specialised type of technology capable of assisting farmers with a wide range of operations. Their primary role is to tackle labour intensive, repetitive, and physically demanding tasks. Robots are used in planting, seedling identification, and sorting. Autonomous tractors perform the function of weeding and harvesting. Drones and autonomous ground vehicles are used for crop monitoring and condition assessment. In animal husbandry, robots are used for feeding cattle, milking, collecting and sorting eggs, and autonomous cleaning of pens. Cobots are also used in agriculture. These robots possess mechanical arms and make harvesting much easier for farmers. The agriculture robot market size is expected to reach USD 16,640.4 billion by 2026; however, specific robots, rather than industrial robots, will occupy the majority of the market. A detailed overview of research focused on implementing industrial robots in agricultural applications is provided in Table 7.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt}} \hline \hline
**Objective** & **Technology** & **Approach** & **Improvement** & **Ref.** \\ \hline The applications of industrial robots in the food industry and their automation prospects. A 4-step Food Industrial Robot & Articulated robot, Cartesian robot & The four steps within the Food Industrial Robot Methodology (FIRM). & The FIRM presented in this paper outlined the ability to classify industrial robot capabilities and match them to specific characteristics of foodstuffs and requirements for their processing based on four steps that navigate eight tasks. This work also identified many factors that should lay the groundwork for future research in the application of industrial robots within food manufacturing. & The emergent robotics in business is widely seen across the world. However, the trust in human–robotic interaction appears to be underdeveloped. Reducing the number of repetitive jobs by replacing them with robots not replacing jobs but sparing the way for more intelligent jobs. & & \\ \hline Maximise performance by utilising fewer resources of industrial robots in the food industry & Dual model soft gripper for food packaging & Grasp and sucd process for various types of objects having a weight up to 1 kg & The proposed dual-mode gripper can perform grasp and sucd functions for multiple types of nutrients. Additional improvements may be automatic switching of the gripper finger configuration and distance adjustment. & \\ \hline Challenges in the application of industrial robots in the food industry & An overview & An overview & An overview & [97] \\ \hline Path planning optimisation technique in the food industry & The proposed optimisation technique is based on the use of an off-axis tool & EPSON T6 SCARA robot & This path optimisation technique shortens the cycle time and reduces energy consumption. & [103] \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 6: Research focused on the food industry.