AGRICAM: A Track-Mounted Crop Pollination Monitoring Robot
Computer Vision and Pattern RecognitionArtificial IntelligenceRobotics
Summary
The authors created AGRICAM, a robot that moves along crop rows to watch and record insect pollinators without disturbing them or farm work. It uses cameras and sensors to collect video and environmental data, which is then analyzed to see where and when insects visit the plants. They tested AGRICAM on a blueberry farm and showed it could track pollination patterns over large areas and time periods. This helps farmers understand insect activity to better manage pollination and improve crop yields.
Authors
Malika Nisal Ratnayake, Adel N. Toosi, James Cook, Romina Rader, Alan Dorin
Abstract
Insect pollination is critical for global food production, yet monitoring pollinators at commercial farm scale remains a challenge. Recent advances in computer vision and deep learning have enabled detailed analysis of pollinator behaviour, but monitoring must trade-off detail against spatial coverage and human or technological resources. This paper presents the Automated Guided Robot for Insect and Crop Activity Monitoring (AGRICAM), a purpose-built robotic system designed to meet the requirements of large-scale pollination monitoring in protected cropping systems. AGRICAM operates autonomously on low-cost, easily installed track for movement along crop rows, without disrupting farm operations or insect behaviour. The platform integrates two RGB cameras, microclimate sensors, GPS and RFID modules, motion sensors, and 4G cellular network connectivity for data transmission. A web interface enables remote device configuration and scheduling. The system autonomously captures video and image data of insects' locations and local environmental conditions. These are transferred to the cloud and analysed using computer vision models to quantify pollinator visitation and spatio-temporal activity variation. We deployed the system on a commercial blueberry farm to demonstrate and test its capability. It successfully mapped insect pollination patterns across 80 m long industrial polytunnels over 30 hours. This data enabled spatial analyses of insect activity we used to confirm a uniform pollinator distribution within polytunnels, as desired by the farm management team. The data also highlighted variation of insect activity associated with time of day and microclimate. AGRICAM therefore has been shown to be a scalable, automated crop pollination monitor that can support data-driven decisions to enhance pollination management, thereby improving crop productivity and food security.