Healthy Soils
with Robotics?
The Project
SoilRob investigates the impact of autonomous field robots on soil health in diversified agricultural landscapes. To achieve this, experimental sites with diversified cropping systems are selected both regionally and across Germany, where comprehensive soil parameters are analyzed and compared between conventional farming and diversified systems managed with field robots.
The field robots used in the project are designed for crop-specific interventions and are deployed for seeding, mechanical weed control, or as towing machines. They are characterized by their lighter weight, precise track planning, and extended operational windows in agricultural practice. Based on the findings, the project aims to assess the potential benefits of field robots over conventional agricultural machinery in terms of soil health.
In addition to practical trials, a digital twin of the landscape laboratory will be implemented in a farming simulator. This modeling approach will help predict soil changes and develop recommendations for optimizing the use of field robots.
The ultimate goal of SoilRob is to ensure long-term, sustainable high yields and thus reliable economic viability of autonomously managed diversified cropping systems through improved soil quality.
THE MISSION
A scientifically based investigation into whether and how the use of autonomous field robots in diversified agricultural landscapes can promote soil health and what potential land-use conflicts may arise from their implementation.
Hello, we are the team behind SoilRob!
SoilRob is a project led by a BMBF-funded junior research group under the leadership of Dr. Kathrin Grahmann at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) in Müncheberg (Brandenburg), as part of the funding initiative "Young Researchers Exploring the Bioeconomy".
As the scientific coordinator of the patchCROP landscape laboratory, Kathrin Grahmann has many years of experience in experimental and applied agricultural sciences. The extensive scientific, technical, and knowledge transfer activities in SoilRob are driven by Lina Rohlmann, Lukas Thielemann, and Björn Wang.
Starting in October 2024, an additional researcher will join the team to support the implementation of a digital twin of the landscape laboratory.
Events & News
Latest News
Autonomous weeding robots and their impact on soil
A new publication by the SoilRob team provides an overview of the current state of research on the impact of field robotics on soil health…
Read more … Autonomous weeding robots and their impact on soil
Technical conference at the Society for Conservation Tillage e.V.
Dr. Kathrin Grahmann at the University of Hohenheim symposium: Autonomous field robots as tools for soil-friendly and diversified agriculture?
Read more … Technical conference at the Society for Conservation Tillage e.V.
New publication on the automated evaluation of Von Törne bait strips – an important milestone for the SoilRob team
Dr. Adrija Roy published a peer-reviewed paper in the journal Ecological Indicators in which she automated the evaluation of Von Törne bait strips (Bait-Lamina sticks), thereby facilitating the work of the SoilRob team
BILL GATES
"We should discuss soil as much
as we talk about coal"
LEONARDO DA VINCI
"We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot."
Franklin D. Roosevelt
"The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself."
Charles E. Kellogg
"Essentially, all life depends upon the soil"
Mahatma Gandhi
"To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves."
William Bryant Logan