OSAKA, March 11 — Kubota Corp. unveiled on March 10 its versatile autonomous agricultural vehicle to be exhibited at Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai due to open next month.
The height and width of the vehicle are adjustable. Using a variety of equipment and implements, a single robot can autonomously handle a wide range of agricultural tasks including tilling, pest control and harvesting, which have traditionally been performed by separate machines.
The release date of the robot is yet to be determined, but the firm plans to conduct tests on farmlands and aim at commercializing the product.
The robot was shown at an event promoting the Future City pavilion of the Osaka Expo that will open on April 13 at Yumeshima in the city of Osaka.
The versatile platform robot, named Type: V, is around 4 meters long, 2 meters wide and 2 meters high — larger than the firm’s medium-sized vehicle and smaller than its large-sized one.
As for the electrically operated type, the firm aims to enable the robot to be charged very fast — from 10% to 80% in 6 minutes.
The vehicle features a flat top in view of charging and carrying drones.
The distance between the left and right tires as well as the height of the vehicle can be adjusted to match the size of crop furrows and the types of crops.
The firm plans to equip the robot with four omni wheels which move independently to allow it to be maneuverable, enabling it to follow the shortest path even in the mud or on uneven ground.
By installing censors on the front, rear and both sides of each robot and making multiple robots perform tasks autonomously in tandem, it will become possible to harvest rice and transport it concurrently.
The firm hopes the robot will also be used in areas other than agriculture, such as civil engineering and disaster relief.
The Type: V autonomous agricultural robot unveiled by Kubota Corp. in the city of Osaka