University of Manitoba researchers develop AI 'brain' for autonomous farm machinery

WINNIPEG — Researchers at the University of Manitoba are developing an artificial intelligence "brain" to enable farm machinery to operate fully on its own.

"We are trying to develop a novel solution for agricultural machinery, so they can travel by themselves," said Jay Wang, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering leading the project.

"We want the tractor to drive by itself, to be fully autonomous and go 24/7."

READ MORE: Canada and Vietnam upgrade ties to strategic partnership during state visit

READ MORE: Scientists discover two new species of sea spiders in B.C.'s Salish Sea

Wang said the goal is to make existing farm equipment autonomous, reducing the need for an operator. He said the technology combines AI with physics to help machines make decisions when things go wrong and adapt to unpredictable field conditions.

"That's the technology we are developing and hopefully we can use this technology to help farmers," he said. "We will use less labour, we will use less oil, and we will produce more food."

Research student Jerry Li said the technology could eventually allow farmers to let autonomous machines handle tasks in the labour-intensive industry.

"We want to do automated farming and help our farmers, so with our technology, you can just stay home and let the machine automatically run on the farm," he said.

Other University of Manitoba researchers are also applying AI to agriculture. Dilshan Benaragama, an assistant professor, said his team is using drones and AI to maximize crop yields while minimizing chemical use by applying treatments only where needed.

"We are focusing on bringing in technology, like most advances in remote sensing technology with drones and then combining with AI technologies to solve problems in western Canadian farms," Benaragama told CTV News last month.

He said the goal is to make farming smarter, more affordable and environmentally friendly.

Tech analyst Carmi Levy said AI could give farmers a tool to deal with pressure to produce more with fewer resources.

"Farmers are always struggling with doing more with less," he said.

"Artificial intelligence can be one of those enabling technologies that allows them to cover more ground; that allows them to plant and harvest more efficiently, larger amounts of land in less time; to adapt for things like weeds and changing climate and weather."

Levy added that AI could help smaller farms survive and compete. "Despite the overarching fears of artificial intelligence wiping out huge numbers of jobs, the reality on the ground is it could allow smaller farms to survive and thrive and compete, whereas otherwise they might simply go under," he said.

Wang said his focus is on developing the best possible technology to help Manitoba farmers. "We hope using our technology to really help the farmers in Manitoba to make our agricultural machinery fully autonomous," he said.

He also hopes the technology could one day be deployed in other sectors, including space exploration.

With files from BNN Bloomberg