Contact: Meg Henderson
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State has partnered with John Deere through a master research agreement to establish a framework for the university’s Agricultural Autonomous Research Institute to help develop technology to automate critical steps in the production of cotton and other crops. There is.
“As it becomes increasingly difficult to find the skilled labor needed to carefully operate modern equipment, there is great interest in automating various agricultural processes,” said AAI Director and MSU Agrobiologist. said Alex Thomason, Dean of Engineering. “The advantage of an autonomous system is that you don’t get tired or distracted.”
MSU Assistant Professor Hussein Gharakhani is the project’s principal investigator. Galacani, a scientist at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES) who has worked with AAI since its inception, is an advocate of agricultural autonomy, the concept of machines independently performing tasks that traditionally require manual labor. We have focused our research only on
Mississippi State University assistant professor Hussein Galahani (front) is a MAFES scientist whose research focuses on agricultural autonomy, the concept of machines independently performing tasks that traditionally require manual labor. We are doing Researcher Jessica Wolf and assistant professor Nuwan Wijewardane are also pictured with a UAV flying over the university’s WB Andrews Agricultural Systems Research Farm, evaluating a robot in a cornfield. (Photo provided by Dominic Belcher)
“Operating agricultural machinery for specific applications requires concentration and attention to detail,” says Garahani. “Imagine working all day in those conditions and you’ll see how easy it is to lose focus and start making costly mistakes.”
As a global machinery manufacturer, John Deere has a history of collaborating with universities to advance agricultural technology.
“We are excited about this opportunity to partner with Mississippi State University’s Agricultural Autonomy Institute,” said Holly Maton, John Deere’s Science Policy Lead for Research Partnerships and Emerging Technologies and Architecture. Masu. “Establishing research agreements with MSU and other universities reflects our desire to build strong partnerships with leading research institutions and connect with future technology talent.”
The company’s agreement with MSU also highlights the need to conduct more agricultural machinery research in the South.
“Our cropping systems and methods are crop-, soil-, topography- and climate-specific, so there is an opportunity for manufacturers to collaborate with researchers on the specific conditions in which their equipment will be used,” Thomasson said. said.
Thomason said the partnership will help AAI attract agricultural industry companies to Mississippi, create options for research and startups, and develop and train a Mississippi-based agricultural industry workforce. He added that it will help advance the mission.
“Our vision for AAI is to establish Mississippi as the ‘Silicon Valley’ of agricultural autonomy. Our collaboration with John Deere will serve as the nation’s first institute focused on agricultural autonomy, bringing together the state and the university. “It’s a huge step forward in putting “Ah” on the national stage,” he said.
For more information about the Agricultural Autonomy Institute, visit www.aai.msstate.edu. For more information about the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, visit www.mafes.msstate.edu.
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