Training the UK agri-food sector to employ robotics and autonomous systems

Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) in agriculture has become an expanding area of interest for research and innovation, in both industry and academia. Robotic solutions have been demonstrated for a wide range of farming tasks, from planting and weed management to crop monitoring and harvesting—the concept of RAS in agriculture is no longer tomorrow’s dream; it is today’s reality. However, a number of factors have limited the uptake and deployment of RAS in the agri-food sector, including lack of access to robust digital connectivity, unfavourable cost-benefit relationships for many farms to purchase robotic solutions, often unmet requirements for reliable, trustworthy and user-friendly systems, and the need to upskill and lack of relevant training for the agri-food workforce, specifically for working farmers and growers. Now more than ever, a range of digital literacy and skills are needed (e.g. computer programming and robotic engineering, telecommunications networking and cybersecurity, image processing and data analytics). With the use of collaborative robots, autosteer, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Variable Rate Technology (VRT) and the plethora of associated information provided by Internet of Things (IoT)-based solutions, those in the agri-food sector need to be able to use cutting edge technologies to analyse new data, apply new knowledge, develop new skills and assess new opportunities to enhance their farm business performance. Future RAS applications will require multi-disciplinary digital literacy and skills, not only on the part of developers but also on the part of those responsible for making purchasing and operational decisions. These skills include abilities to operate with new technologies at different levels of autonomy; to address safety, legal, ethical and information protection aspects; to embed project management and legislation aspects; and to cope with extreme conditions, such as severe weather (e.g. storms and floods), supply chain interruptions (e.g. lack of components to maintain or upgrade equipment) or infrastructure disruptions (e.g. rising energy costs or loss of access to reliable internet). Competence and confidence across the workforce, from farm director to harvest manager to field worker, are critical to the successful application and full-scale roll-out of RAS in the agri-tech sector—but this will only come about with an upskilled workforce. This UK-RAS white paper aims to explore the RAS training needs of the agri-food sector within the UK and to identify potential routes to addressing these needs through provisions offered by academic, industry and professional organisations.