Automation of agricultural operation such as seedling transplanting is needed to ensure efficient as well as timely operation. Robotics is the area that needs to be focused for the future of automatic seedling transplanter. This paper presents the design, development as well as working of the robotic transplanter (RT) for plug seedlings. The developed RT consists of three systems: (1) robot initiation; (2) seedling picking mechanism (SPM); and (3) vehicle movement system (VMS). The SPM consists of a main frame, manipulator, end-effector and control unit. Whereas, the VMS is having photoelectric sensor, robot controller and DC motor. The stepper motors were mounted on the main frame for movement in XY direction. The manipulator was on the crossbar that used to move the end-effector in Z-axis. The pick-up mechanism consists of an end-effector having jaw-type gripper controlled by servo motor. The control unit consists of microchip 16F877 and the system is controlled with computer programming. The gripper moves to each seedling in the pro-tray, grasp and pick-up the seedling, moves to the delivery point and then release the seedling. The manipulator was tested and analyzed for pickup and releasing of 96 seedlings with soil base from pro-tray. The initial experimental result showed that the seedling success rate, leakage rate and successful transplanting of 30 days old chilli seedling was 95.1%, 7.6% and 90.3%, respectively. Robotic technology seems to be expensive but the scope lies in the non-availability or high cost of manual labour and to ensure timeliness of repetitive field operations.

Grapes (Vitis vinifera) are extensively grown in tropical and sub-tropical climate for its wine as well as direct consumption as table grapes or raisin. Grape production substantially contributes to the economy of smallholder farmers of developing countries. Despite the relevance of grape production in the international market and the potential for boosting rural economy, the automation in grape production is very low. Mechanization in grapevine cultivation is an indispensable factor for timely operations and cost-savings. Therefore, the technological interventions for grapes production as well as its management in vineyards have been reviewed in the paper. Vineyards are undergoing a gradual transformation into a mechanized way with the advent of newer and ready to adopt technologies like planting, pruning, weeding, spraying, fertilizer application, irrigation and harvesting. However, selective in nature, some operations are still carried out manually like pruning, weeding, and harvesting in developing countries. Although complete mechanization is possible for each production and cultivation process tedious and labor-consuming practices must be prioritized for mechanization and automation. This review systematically summarizes the existing technologies and explores the future prospects for researchers to automate grapevine production and crop management technology for grapevine cultivation.

Manual vegetable transplanting is a time-consuming, labor-intensive, operation. The objective of the study was to design, develop, and evaluate an automatic vegetable transplanter (AVT) for plug seedlings of chili (Capsicum annuum L.). Metering mechanisms in an AVT are affected by the transmission system and changes in desired plant spacing. To overcome problems, a novel rotating finger device with a push-type mechanism was developed for automatic transplanting of vegetable plug seedlings. The AVT consists of a pair of L-shaped rotating fingers, feed roller unit, metering mechanism, and delivery unit. Clearance between the feed roller and fingers is adjustable. The average values of performance parameters: plant spacing (Ps), planting depth (Pd), mis-planting (Mp), multiple planting (Mt), seedling mortality (Sm), transplanting efficiency (Et), and field transplanting efficiency (Ef) were 599.8 mm, 46.4 mm, 4.9%, 1.1%, 0.9%, 92.6%, and 76.12%, respectively. Effective field capacity (Fc) with the transplanter was 0.093 ha∙h⁻¹ and 0.027 ha∙h⁻¹ with the manual method. The two-row AVT can be used with a small tractor and may make up for labor shortage during peak season.

Agricultural production system has witnessed drastic changes in the last few decades with advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence based technologies. Scarcity of labour during peak cropping season has also highlighted the need for an alternative option for safe and sustainable agricultural system using IoT, machine learning and robotics for carrying out agricultural operations. Augmented use of electronics and computer application has made the working of robotic system possible for various field operations viz. transplanting, harvesting, and interculture, etc. for agricultural as well as horticultural crops. These technologies can be integrated with vision based system and GPS for more precise application. Robotic transplanter for transplanting plug-type seedlings may be a good option for future agriculture. It can use robotic arm, manipulator and an end-effector to perform the operation by using computer vision and motion planning algorithm or an artificial intelligence system. The application of robotics will help in various field operations for movement, localization, capturing, targeting and moving to the next target using drones for addressing spatial as well as temporal management of crops. Same operation can be used in spraying, weeding as well as harvesting of fruits. However, the robotic technology seems to be at nascent stage and there is a need to adopt these technologies due to non-availability of labour and their higher wages and to ensure timeless in field operations. Although many research attempts have been made for development of robots for agriculture application, more research should be focused towards the development of next generation robots for difficult and labourious farm operations.

Vegetable seedling transplanting is a time-consuming and laborious process. Utilizing cutting-edge technologies, and automation of transplanting will ensure efficient operations. A robotic transplanter featuring a single jaw-type gripper has been created and tested for the extraction of seedlings from nursery protrays. This system employs computer-based programming for Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), to execute the seedling extraction using a gripper-type end-effector. The gripper removes each seedling separately from the first row of the nursery tray and releases them to the delivery pipe. Then the designed robot propels itself forward using DC motors and a PLC-based directional control unit. The PLC allows users to input the desired seedlings extraction through an LCD screen. The developed system was tested with vegetable seedlings including chilli and tomato, and resulting the seedling extraction rate of 3 seedlings/min. The results showed that for nursery-grown seedlings, the success rate, leakage rate as well as successful transplanting ranged from 91 to 95%, 7.6 to 13.9%, and 86.8 to 90.3%, respectively. Due to a lack of manual manpower for field operations, robotic transplanters could be the future of Indian agriculture.