The National Agriculture and Food Research Organization in Japan earned "The Robot Award 2008" for its automated rice planter, which can work a field all on its own without the help of humans. As is usually stated, Japan faces a looming labor crisis with its lopsidedly older work force, and automated production is one of the country's focuses.
The rice planter uses GPS to tell where it is, and internal sensors that can measure its velocity and pitch. With all of those readings, the robot can adjust its speed and direction, keeping it on the field while doing a steady job.
In the future, the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization would like to see its farm-bot networked to communicate with other equipment, in such a way that a farm could be run entirely by robotic workers.
4 Comments
Pprtsays...robots for simple labour>importing third worlders
Automation may not save the world, but at least Japan will still be Japanese in 50 years.
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Lodurrsays...The "robot solution" Japan is pursuing to their problems is flawed because robots are meant to replace cheap labor, but the cost of a new model robot is always sky high.
And on a personal level, I think it's a bad idea for them to eliminate so many opportunities for their elderly to remain physically active. Maybe not sewing rice by hand, but at least hopping in the tractor every day would be beneficial to their health.
dgandhi>> ^Pprt:
robots for simple labour>importing third worlders
Well, only sort of. The device, or at least the vast majority of its components, will be manufactured in the "third world", so it is in effect a giant cheap-labor battery.
You put a bunch of people in a factory, sore their labor in the form of machinery, and then pull it back out after you ship it to your country.
Because the cost of energy(labor) is so cheap where you charge(manufacture) the thing it comes out as an okay economic deal over the full life of the machine.
If you point is strict xenophobia, simply not wanting to see the laborers, then I suppose it works.
But if you want not to be dependent on the laborers, and being subject to their desire to work for you at whatever rate you desire, that problem has not been avoided.
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