Conceived back in 2006, the American Society of Agricultural & Biological Engineers (ASABE) Robotics Competition is a design competition event wherein students compete and develop innovative robotic solutions to real life issues in the field of agriculture.
This year, the ASABE Robotics Competition is in tune with a major economic activity in the host city, which is a major production territory for hay. As the 7th edition, this year’s competition will be part of the 2013 Annual International ASABE meeting and focuses on the agricultural practices of Missouri.
The theme of the 2013 ASABE Robotics Competition will mainly encompass how robots pick up hay bales and stack them in barns. Citing that the region is a hay production territory, hauling the product has always been a labor-intensive task. As mechanization improves, this has been greatly reduced and humans have been replaced with machinery in lifting heavy bales.
Additionally, as the introduction of newer technology continues to proliferate, organizers hope that one day, automation will eliminate the practice of having people lift the hay manually, and instead, will utilize robots to do this work autonomously or with lesser supervision.
