MOBILE INTELLIGENT EQUIPMENT FOR OFF-ROAD ENVIRONMENTS

Robotics and controls technology today provides capable machine control and intelligent systems technologies that are potentially transferable to a broad cross-section of mobile machines currently available in off-road equipment spaces, including agriculture, lawn and turf grass, and construction spaces. One view in the industry and profession is that Intelligent Mobile Equipment results from the transformation of conventional mobile machinery and attachments with precision control technology and intelligent systems for governing the operation of these machines in an evolutionary development of capabilities. On the other hand, the trends for service robotics lead to opportunities for a direct replacement of conventional machines with novel systems that increase productivity of the conventional system that uses off-road equipment. This leads to the opportunity for systems approaches to solve problems in specific application spaces with new models of cultural practices based on the intelligent systems technology. This keynote will provide and overview of intelligent mobile equipment, update the current status of this evolving industry, and pose some of the challenges and opportunities provided by the insertion of robotics technology into off-road spaces.