Feldschwarm_01, Feldschwarm_02, ,Feldschwarm_03

Manufacturer
Feldschwarm Konsortium
Technische Universität Dresden
Fakultät Maschinenwesen
Institut für Naturstofftechnik
D-01062 Dresden
www.feldschwarm.de 

Design
Technisches Design TU Dresden
D-01219 Dresden
www.tu-dresden.de/ing/maschinenwesen/imm/td 

Growing demand, shrinking cropland, labour shortages and climate change are putting global agriculture under immense pressure to innovate. Before long, swarms of autonomous machines could well be shaping the face of arable land. Feldschwarm (Field Swarm), an interdisciplinary project involving 11 partners from industry and research, shows how. FSE II is a concrete outcome of the project – an autonomous machine with tools that are incorporated between its axles rather than being attached to the back of the vehicle. That makes the machine narrower, lighter and more modular. The design focuses on the machine head with drive unit and integrates both the sensor technology and illuminated elements that the machine uses to communicate. The farmer controls the swarm via a tablet and graphical user interface.

Jury
Agricultural robots are still in the experimental stage for the time being but will probably be part of everyday life in just a few years from now. Feldschwarm is an extremely technology-driven joint project that factored in the design right from the start. The design is of exceptionally high quality; it encompasses every detail of the machine as well as its users and gives the entire concept a clear, visionary overall character that visualises the enormous scope of the project’s potential.