Farm Sentinel - An AI Enabled Weed Remover

Weeds remain a significant problem in contemporary agriculture because they decrease crop yields, require a lot of manual labour, and stimulate overuse of chemical herbicides that are a nuisance to the environment and human beings. The solutions to these challenges need to be innovative, sustainable and scalable. The presented paper proposes the idea of an autonomous robotic system, the Farm Sentinel, which is based on the concepts of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision and able to search and collect, effectively and sustainably managing the weeds. The robot has two robotic arms, used in uprooting the weeds and one to level the soil on a mobility platform which is solar powered. A camera with AI capabilities relies on a machine that can detect weeds in real-time so that roots can be pulled out gently at an accurate point without damaging the surrounding crops. Once removed, the soil is redistributed into the field by the robot to ensure the structure of the field is still maintained: resulting in very little disturbance in the soil and healthy crop growth. Farm Sentinel also incorporates aerial autonomy using drones to help map terrains, identify boundaries and obtain information that will be used in agriculture. This amalgamation increases coverage, versatility and accuracy. The system is made in such a way that it is scalable, with an ability to attach modules and learn automatically to adapt to different kinds of farms, type of weeds, and land terrain. Various Sustainable Development Goals: At the same time, the proposed solution would directly support a number of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals providing the following contributions: SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) by increasing crop yields and farm productivity; SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) by decreasing reliance on harmful agrochemicals and promoting sustainable exploitation of resources; and SDG 13 (Climate Action) due to its low emission solar power-driven nature. Even though still in conceptual design and even prototype stage, the Farm Sentinel demonstrates how smart farming systems developed with the use of AI can transform weed control, relieve farmers of much of their load, and facilitate a sustainable shift to an environmentally responsible world agriculture.