With Robotics in Tow: Dr. Kathrin Grahmann on a Research Trip Through South America

Autonomous field robots have the potential to transform agriculture - but what impact do they have on our soils? With this question in mind, Dr. Kathrin Grahmann, head of the ZALF early-career research group SoilRob, traveled to Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina in the summer of 2026.

Her first stop was the 17th International Conference on Precision Agriculture (ICPA), which took place in Porto Alegre from July 13 to 16, 2026, in conjunction with the 11th Brazilian Congress on Precision and Digital Agriculture (ConBAP). The conference brought together researchers from the international precision agriculture community with stakeholders from research and practice in Brazil and provided an important platform for international scientific exchange and networking. SoilRob was represented there with the presentation “Results from a Scoping Review: The Role of Autonomous Mechanical Weeding Robots in Climate-Smart Soil Management.” The results of the scoping review show that knowledge about the effects of autonomous mechanical weeding robots on soil functions has been very limited to date. While most previous studies have focused on technical performance and weed control, research on long-term effects on soil health, water balance, carbon sequestration, or nutrient cycles is largely lacking.

However, the trip to South America was not only about presenting new technologies, but above all about discussing their agronomic and ecological impacts. “We talk a lot about the technical potential of field robots. But we still know far too little about how they affect soils and agricultural ecosystems in the long term,” says Dr. Grahmann, summarizing a key message of her research. The remaining stops on the trip then took Kathrin Grahmann to Uruguay, where she visited the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Uruguay (FAGRO) and its experimental branch in Paysandú (EEMAC); the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIA) in Colonia del Sacramento; and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences in Buenos Aires (UBA-IFEVA), Argentina. The various seminars, lectures, and field visits focused on the question of how increasingly complex and diversified agricultural systems can be managed efficiently and sustainably in the future. In particular, discussions centered on the role that

autonomous field robots, high-resolution sensors, and intelligent decision-support systems can play in this context. This international exchange is crucial for the development of future agricultural technologies. Robotics requires international networks—but above all, it requires dialogue between engineering, crop production, and soil sciences.

With SoilRob, ZALF brings these perspectives together and positions itself internationally at the intersection of robotics and sustainable soil management.