Robotic Cover-Crop Drill

Use of cover crops has tremendous value in improving soil health which ultimately impacts nutrient cycling erosion and water holding capacity. Cover crops have proven to reduce water pollution risks remove harmful greenhouse gasses (such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen) and increase crop yields. However adoption of cover crop utilization is largely challenged by timing of planting and labor resource availability. The US Midwest only plants cover crops on 10% or less of its potential cropland. To address challenges of increased adoption of cover crop usage Plains Technologies proposes to build on the team's prior research and develop an autonomous robotic cover crop seed drill for seeding after harvest: the Flex-Ro Cover Crop Drill. Phase 1 STTR objectives include 1) Design fabricate and integrate a seed drill attachment for Flex-Ro Robot; 2) Develop control system software for integrating CC drill into the control architecture of Flex-Ro Robot; and 3) Test the performance of the robotic CC drill in no-till field conditions at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln's (UNL) research fields. The team will work with UNL both for the field trials and prototype development largely focusing on system software. Once proven feasible we anticipate employing a Farming as a Service business model to increase adoption of cover crop use in the US.