SURVIVING THE RECESSION: Views from golf course managers, public sector and suppliers
BEST OF BRITISH: Dennis and Sisis, two British brands now together FEATURE: Winter maintenance programme DEALER PROFILE: Longham Garden Machinery, winner of the 2012 Marketing Award COURSE REVIEW: Trump International, winner of 2012 Best New Venue Award ON TEST:Makita brush cutters CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE Scott MacCallum Chris Biddle James De Havilland Jane McPherson and of course . . Jim Green
The November issue of Turf Pro/Service Dealer is being published w/c 12 November
BIGGER AND BIGGER? Robotic mowers have shown the way
DURING the past few days, I ve been privileged to attend events at the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering, leading institutions for science and innovation in this country. The first was a farming conference focussing on feeding the world over the next 40 years, the second last Wednesday, a fascinating lecture given by Professor Simon Blackmore of Harper Adams with his vision of the kind of tractors and machinery needed to maximise food production from a diminishing land bank (see separate item)
As with most conferences, you come away with one or two key images zinging around in your head.
For me, the first was the startling view that given the rise and rise of large horsepower tractors, 90% of the energy used in cultivations was simply to ‘repair the damage caused by the tractor in the first place’
Professor Blackmore’s view is that tractors have now reached their optimum size, as have combines and other harvesting equipment. The future, he says is in robotic machines, smaller, lighter and much more efficient.
The second image is the huge problem of food waste, not only that we throw away, but at the point of harvesting. Consumer taste, consumer demand dictates that supermarkets are highly selective, and that 40% of crops harvested are discarded as being not suitable for display and sale.
So included in Professor Blackmore’s line-up of a new generation of robotic machines was a vegetable harvester that will only pick those plants that fit the profile demanded by the supermarket, leaving those that need more ripening to be harvested when ready.
It was all fascinating stuff, and as Professor Blackmore said “This new technology is available now”
So if robotics in farm production is the next step, who is going to take the lead? Major manufacturers will all be engaged in R&D on robotics that is for sure, but will they take a collective decision to move in this direction? Unlikely. Even now, there are issues of incompatability between GPS systems, and that is likely to increase as more sophisticated equipment is introduced.
As you know, computer is a computer - unless it’s a Windows PC or an Apple!
Professor Blackmore’s view is that the lead will have to come from small, specialist developers before the major manufacturers realise that they have to jump aboard.
Isn’t that what happened in the robotic mower field? Virtually all the major suppliers now have a robotic mower in their line-up, but where would they be if an Israeli entrepeneur, Udi Peless, with experience in guidance systems in aircraft had not decided that the technology could be applied in a machine to cut the lawn.
I well recall a visit I made to Israel some ten or twelve years ago to see the prototypes in action. Udi’s company, Friendly Robotics, was that small pioneer. He did much of the development work that enabled the big players to see a commercial future today
The 2013 Event Planner in a new, larger size, will once again contain dates of all the national and international industry shows and events. Published with the December issue of Turf Pro/Service Dealer TO ADVERTISE GEORGE MILLER E-mail or 020 3603 7936
