Remote supervision of autonomous agricultural sprayers: The farmer’s perspective

The autonomous agricultural machine may soon be a reality. For it to be commercially viable, designers must also consider the design of the interface that will be used to remotely supervise the operation of the autonomous machine. Before the interface can be designed, however, it is necessary to understand the information required by the individual supervising the machine from a remote location Hence, the goal of this study was to determine the expectations of farmers regarding autonomous agricultural machines (specifically, an autonomous sprayer), and to determine the essential information that should be provided on the interface to enable the farmer to supervise the operation of an autonomous sprayer remotely. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to farmers and agriculture students attending western Canadian universities. In a follow-up study, experienced, operators were then asked to rank each parameter that was recommended from the survey using a five-point Likert scale. Findings indicated that sprayer operators are willing to accept an autonomous sprayer. However, to increase the ease of adoption, certain conditions need to be met. Parameters and features that were recommended varied in their level of importance and frequency of usage. These results will help designers minimize the chance of overcrowding the interface with irrelevant information. It will also assist designers with organization of information based on the needs of the farmer and in a way that will increase the situation awareness of the farmer.