Robotic Following Cart to Replace Light Duty Tractor Tasks?

[candersen10]

Here is a 1 page overview of the idea, now more fully showcased. Any more feedback/thoughts?

 

[Rustyiron]

You might have a big hit if the "wall" get's built & illegals under control, especially in certain regions & operations.
Is the name "Burro" a coincidence?

 

[candersen10]

You might have a big hit if the "wall" get's built & illegals under control, especially in certain regions & operations.
Is the name "Burro" a coincidence?

Of course a coincidence.

 

[joecoin]

There are "follower" devices in the market already, there's a really cool drone. You wear a transceiver and the drone follows you.

So, use that tech on your cart for the picking portion of the cycle, then turn it off. When you turn off the "follower" circuit, automatically enable a homing circuit , the cart will go to the unloading point. Once it unloads, have a sensor kick in and turn the follower circuit back on. Lather rinse repeat.

 

[candersen10]

There are "follower" devices in the market already, there's a really cool drone. You wear a transceiver and the drone follows you.

So, use that tech on your cart for the picking portion of the cycle, then turn it off. When you turn off the "follower" circuit, automatically enable a homing circuit , the cart will go to the unloading point. Once it unloads, have a sensor kick in and turn the follower circuit back on. Lather rinse repeat.

Joe, thanks for the tech tip, we have a background in autoguidance technology in the big ag equipment space so have some good ideas on how to do it (perhaps similar to what you mentioned although there are other solutions).

We know we can get it to work, but what we are looking for is a target market to launch into where there is an actual pain point for shuttling smaller payloads by hand back and forth. Grape harvest (when by hand), vegetables (when by hand), and perhaps refuse collection in certain segments (i.e. picking up dead birds in broiler/turkey growouts) are our top ones at the moment.

In essence, a Burro would function as a virtual conveyor belt from a pick point to a collection point.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

The key to inventing something is to focus your energy on the thing you're actually inventing. If you do a google search for "power wheelbarrow" you'll see there are already a number of models out there, and they seem to range from about $500 to $6000. What you're inventing is following/navigating software, so focus on that. I think you'll be miles ahead to start with an existing design of robotic wheelbarrow, and work on robotizing the controls. Once you have the robotics working it will be straightforward to port it to another power wheelbarrow or one of your design.

In terms of assessing the business prospects of your design, find someone who uses power wheelbarrows and ask them if an autonomous power wheelbarrow would be useful for them. Contact a manufacturer, and ask if they will refer you to an existing user. Find a rental yard that rents them and talk to them, ask them if they have a regular customer you can talk with.

 

[two_bit_score]

Aaron Z, we were thinking that a 250 pound payload cart that could travel quite a distance could shuttle produce to these bins, replacing the transit time that laborers might otherwise take. The cart could follow a laborer out, and then once full the laborer could push a button and the cart would run back to a set point to be emptied, or to dump (if possible), before returning to its laborer. Are we imagining a problem that doesn'tf exist?


Regarding the functionality, we would of course have bumper bars, safety stop switches, etc. Once you get to larger robotic machines (i.e. 1500 pounds) you need much more sophisticated obstacle avoidance however which would render a unit far more expensive than a tractor and not commercially viable.

What does the laborer do while waiting on the cart to return to him?



TBS

 

[mcj115]

I'll say this that it is a good concept/toy for use in the application shown.
A few thoughts.....Is agriculture the correct market for the product? For example would/could this be better marketed toward the post office for urban mail carriers so use carts for delivery?

Other than follow the product doesn't do anything except travel x and y. Can other automated functions be added? Say a auto loading or dump feature? Could other implements be added? A lawn mover or snowblower... just hypothetically as these would be huge liability implements. The other piece, it appears the development has been made in terms of the control system, and the actual manufacturing or the product is an afterthought. My advise would be to develop an integration of your control system with a commercially available product so you only have to worry about making a small piece of the overall product.

Lastly I think you need to rethink the powerhouse for the platform. Can this be integrated with a ICE engine? I don't think home owners will spend the cash on the product, which means commercial use. IF it is in on orchard, is there there electric infrastructure in place at every location to install a charger? If used by a landscaping company it would be moved to a different job site every day. Electric charging infrastructure may not be everywhere where the product is intended to be used.

 

[daugen]

I've been trying to think of the big picture. Why would you want anything to follow you around?
Seems the first benefit is freeing up the laborer/operator's hands by not having to operate the controls of
a motorized dump cart for example. It should also free up the operator/laborer to do other tasks in some way.
I think one really has to focus on benefits.

the latest DR power equipment catalog just came in and there are the new and improved power carts,revised due to user input. I note three sizes with carrying capacities of 500, 700 and 800.
Not sure the OP's 250 pound limit is going to compete unless it involves pretty lightweight material.
Like others have suggested, I wonder if talking to DR would find any interest on their part to co-partner or develop something new for their line, they certainly have gotten feedback from their users over the last 20 years.

 

[GolfAddict]

Maybe one of the big supermarket chains would want to be the first with awesome new shopping carts. :thumbsup: