The Hands Free Hectare
- Calendar
- Lectures
- Date
- 14.06.2023 19:30
- Locations
- & CSTS Zoom Channel ID 912 0723 6181 , Royal Agricultural University - Sir Emrys Jones Lecture Theatre
- Speaker
- Kit Franklin MEng, CEng, MIAgrE, Senior Engagement Fellow - Engineering
- Harper Adams University
Description
Abstract
Kit will recap the fundamentals and history of agricultural robotics, explaining how this shaped the ideas behind the Hands Free Hectare and how the collaborative project was born. He will recap how the project ran for its first two successful years of autonomous cropping honing and improved the performance of the system.
He will then go on to explain how the project grew into a Farm with refreshed aims and highlight the achievements at its conclusion. Finally Kit will discuss the implications and outputs of the project, including economic studies and knowledge exchange activities which are shaping the future adoption of autonomous agriculture.
BIO
Kit is a Chartered Agricultural Engineer and Senior Engagement Fellow in the Engineering Department at Harper Adams University. His expertise covers a range of topics from mechanical design to precision farming and agricultural automation.
Kit’s research into “future farming systems” led to the ground-breaking and award winning world first ‘Hands-Free Hectare’ project, which established and harvested a cereal crop autonomously and which then grew to become the 35ha Hands Free Farm. Kit was named a “Rising Star” of UK agriculture by the Farmers Weekly in 2017 and was awarded the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE) Presidents Award in 2021 for outstanding progress as a mid-career engineer.
He is current Vice President of IAgrE and co-chairs the IAgrE’s Robotics Special Interest Group. He is a Member of BSI Technical Subcommittee AGE/6/4, developing BS 8646, Use of crop robots in agriculture and horticulture – Code of practice
From planting to harvesting, no person entered the Hands Free Hectare. The Hands Free Hectare has now grown to a Farm for which Kit is Principal Investigator.
Kit has a passion for publicising Agricultural Engineering and was awarded the IAgrE President’s Award in 2021 for engineering outreach.
Location
& CSTS Zoom Channel ID 912 0723 6181
- Street
- Market Place
- City
- Cirencester
- County
- England GL7
Based in Cirencester, Capital of the Cotswolds
Royal Agricultural University - Sir Emrys Jones Lecture Theatre
- Street
- Sir Emrys Jones Lecture Theatre, RAU
- City
- Cirencester
- County
- Gloucestershire GL7 6JS
Royal Agricultural University (RAU) is situated close to the junction of the A419 (Cirencester to Stroud road) and the A433 (Cirencester to Bath road) on the south-west edge of Cirencester.
The entrance to the Stroud Road car park is off the A419. (Satellite View, RAU page and RAU campus map)
The Parkinson Lecture Theatre (19 on the map) can be found by entering from the Stroud Road car park, and following the path on the right-hand side of the Garner Lecture Block, the first entrance on the right leads to the Parkinson Lecture Theatre.
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