Hans Griepentrog

The CLAAS foundation will again in 2022 financially support new teams coming to the event! You can apply for the support directly on their website.

Thanks at lot already to Sylvia Looks from the CLAAS foundation!

We are happy to inform you that we will conduct a Field Robot Event in 2022. Although the pandemic situation continues we do not want to give up. After some discussions we want to offer a hybrid version of the event: a mix of a virtual and field contest! We also will return to the DLG Field Days and prepare everything to be controlled from and on the DLG site. Therefore, robot teams are invited to participate without travelling (virtual event) or come physically as usual together with your own robot (field event). More details will be available soon. Save the date: 14^th to 16^th of June 2022 in Kirschgartshausen/Mannheim, Germany.

Due to the unpredictable pandemic situation there will be perhaps special rules coming up or even a cancellation. Therefore, please don’t blame us for any inconveniences.

In order to prepare, if you have only little experience in GAZEBO/ROS, we recommend to follow the link on the “Virtual environment” page.

This will be also the place where we will publish more details about the event soon!

We still suggest a rough preliminary task description like: Basic (1) and advanced navigation (2), an agricultural application (sensing (3) and manipulation (4)) and the freestyle (5).

And remember, in the freestyle – not compulsory – we suggest to show using a live video your real existing machine at home conducting an agricultural task of your choice.

The online contest will be at the same time as the DLG Feldtage from 8^th to 10^th June 2021. We want to continue our collaboration with the DLG. There will be much likely an online transmission during this time also via the Feldtage digital platform.

After the cancellation for 2020 we are happy to inform you that we will conduct a Field Robot Event in 2021. Although the C-problem continues we do not want to give up. After some discussions we want to offer a virtual and remote event, because the conditions to prepare for the event are difficult and nobody knows how it will be in June 2021. Most of you know of course that modelling and simulation is an important issue in robotics. Therefore, we want to conduct the contest in a ROS / GAZEBO environment. Some teams have some experience already and others none. But we want to guide the teams and provide information how to prepare for the event. Important is, that the teams get a support also at their home institutions. Best would be – if this will be new – that teams find a good supervisor.

We suggest a rough preliminary task description like: Basic and advanced navigation, an agricultural application and the freestyle. In order to make it easy for some teams to start we will provide a virtual robot which needs then to be programmed to complete the tasks. In the second step teams can ‘bring’  their own virtual robot – or keep the provided one – to complete the application task. In the freestyle – not compulsory – we suggest to show using a live video your real existing machine at home conducting an agricultural task of your choice.

The committee as usual will assess all tasks and there will be of course awards.

However, teams are welcome to join and show what they developed in a virtual world. More details will be provided through this webside.

The online contest will be at the same time as the DLG Feldtage from 8^th to 10^th June 2021. We want to continue our collaboration with the DLG. There will be an online transmission during this time.

If you have any good idea let us know, there is still some time to adjust.

Do you wish to construct your own autonomous robot and participate in the international Field Robot Event? The CLAAS Foundation can help you – up to a maximum amount of 1500 Euro per team.

The next international Field Robot Event 2020 (18^th edition) will be in Erwitte/Lippstadt in Germany again together with the DLG Field Days on Tuesday 16th to Thursday 18th of June 2020. On behalf of the organising committee, we invite you to come with a student and/or professional team and participate in the event.

We joined the DLG Field Days already several times. The Field Days always focus on relevant topics in crop management & machine demonstrations. More information you find here on this webpage.

There will be special tasks for the robot competition in 2020:

– CONTEST: We will as soon as possible (probably in January) provide more details about the tasks. So far we inform you that we will focus first on the traditional challenges of navigating (task 1 and 2). In 2020 we will not anymore navigate through maize rows but between matured small pumpkins in rows. They will be arranged also in 75 cm row width but with around 40-50 cm spacing within the row. An example of the ‘crop plants’ you find here, they will perhaps vary in size and color.

For the application tasks 3 and 4 we suggest something new. The crop plants (pumpkins) from task 1 and 2 will be used within an artificial small landscape. This landscape patch will have some structures as consisting power poles, small trees, a pond etc. In task 3 the robots shall find the crop plants and provide information about them: number, position coordinates, volume etc. In task 4 the robots should again find the crop and move them out of the spot (harvesting).

The Free Style as task 5 will be as usual, we suggest. The banning of persons within the field during machine performance will continue. The ground condition is not clear yet. Perhaps it will be well maintained grass turf or it will be bare soil.

The extra design awarding which is independent from the contest performance will be continued.

– DEMO: We will invite more companies and research institutions to present their research prototypes, however they look as small or big. There will be some demonstration time schedules to show how the status is within this area of (close to) commercialization.

– TALKS: We will also invite speakers from our domain to give impressions about the state-of-the-art of robotics in agriculture. We will try to include also some team speakers to present whatever is interesting in relation to the FRE. The talks will be on or close to our contest area to allow students to listen whenever they have time. The FRE-talks will be included on the official DLG forum announcements.

Providing accommodation & catering will be the same as previous years. We will try to keep the total costs per student as event fee including everything – except your own travel costs – as low as possible. It will be not more than 100 euro per student. That’s it so far.

Hopefully you are coming and join us and have an interesting time with us. Winning is good, but learning, having fun & talks with colleagues is also nice. If you have any further good idea let us know, there is still some time to adjust.