Afara Agriculture Technologies, a Turkey-based company, has developed a technological solution for agriculture: a ground-based autonomous cotton picker, specifically created to pick directly from the ground, after mechanical harvesting.
The “Afara cotton”: a potential autonomous cotton picker
According to Afara, it is estimated that between 5% and 20% of the cotton produced annually is not harvested by mechanical harvesting methods, resulting in a significant loss of resources that are left scattered on the ground.
In this situation, the solution proposed by the company presents an opportunity to minimize this waste, offering an efficient alternative to manual harvesting or the total loss of the product (commercial cotton).
The introduction of Afara Cotton, as the machine is called, isdistinguished by the fact that it is a fully autonomous and electric platform designed to meet the challenge of recovering unharvested cotton. However, the actual availability of these systems is limited to Turkey and selected countries in Europe, highlighting the early stages of implementation of this technology.
History of the cotton-picking prototype
One of the most remarkable features of the Afara machine is its ability to clean two parallel cotton rows at the same time, which demonstrates its efficiency and potential. The story behind its creation is equally fascinating, as Ömer Muratlı, a computer engineer and son of farmers, was inspired by his family to develop a robot that could pick waste cotton.
After patenting the platform and taking it to a working prototype stage, Afara Agriculture Technologies was founded in 2023, thanks to an investment from the crowdfunding platform Fonlabüyüsün, the initiating large-scale production.
The technology used by the Afara Cotton includes four cameras, two lidar sensors and ultrasonic sensors, which work together to identify and collect lost cottonseed in the field. An advanced AI-based perception model enables the robot to accurately detect these seeds and efficiently collect them, aiming for an efficiency rate of 90%.
Afara Cotton’s stand-alone operation
It has the ability to navigate through the field, avoiding obstacles and picking cotton from two rows at a time. Although it currently requires manual assistance to line up with the next row of crops, its storage capacity is up to 200 kg of net cotton.
In addition, it can operate for six hours on a single charge, highlighting its potential to significantly improve cotton picking efficiency. The price of the current model ranges from 120,000 to 130,000 euros, reflecting its value as a technological investment in agriculture.
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Source: Mobile Robot Guide
Photo: The Robot Report
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