Continental is developing a solution for outdoor use in agriculture named the Contadino. With a maximum weight of 100 kilograms the Contadino is significantly lighter than conventional agricultural machines.
The compact dimensions and, above all, the low weight – plus, for example, a seeding, planting or fertilizing module with a total weight of the Contadino of around 250 kilograms – allow the soil to be worked gently.
Above: the Contadino works autonomously in the fleet and serves as a personal butler for every plant in the field
Soil compaction caused by heavy equipment is a problem in agriculture that can lead to declining soil quality and thus lower yields. The Contadino works autonomously in the fleet, serving as a sort of personal butler for each crop in the field.
Thanks to an innovative satellite communication system (Real Time Kinematics Global Networking Satellite System) and networking with weather apps, for example, the autonomous robot can precisely target each plant to within three centimeters. In this way, with data on soil conditions and rainfall, each plant can be fertilized individually and yields increased in a resource-conserving manner.
With the Contadino, Continental provides a robust, reliable robotics platform with open software and hardware interfaces for which third parties can also develop individual working modules.
