FUTURE FARMING
SMS
A Swarm Management
System has been
developed to transfer
instructions to
swarm units
“In the cobotic scheme, an
operator remains in the vicinity to
make a decision or adjustment,
providing an economical fall-back
where automation is insu cient,”
says Herlitzius.
Controlling the swarm
A single operator guiding a cobotic
eld swarm will require radical new
forms of human-machine interface
(HMI). “It’s a completely new
mindset for the operator, who has
situations where the swarm is
completely behind or in front of
them,” explains Professor Jens
Krzywinski, head of industrial
design and engineering at the
Technical University of Dresden.
A touchscreen display will switch
adaptively between machine-detail,
single unit and whole-process views
as the work demands, with driverassist
functionalities supporting the
operator, while the HMI itself may
no longer be positioned within
a vehicle cabin at all.
“It makes sense to move the
steering outside the machine,” says
Krzywinski. Gesture-based systems
could involve wireless joysticks
wielded by an operator standing
nearby, observing the swarm and
performing alternative tasks once its
cobotic work is underway. “Once
you de ne boundaries and initiate
the process, it concludes by itself,”
he continues. “ is ful ls the task in
a more uent and intuitive style,
easier to learn and much better than
what we do today in a cabin.”
24 iVTInternational.com September 2019
BELOW: Once processes
and boundaries of the
swarm are defi ned by the
operator, using a smart
device, the operations will
continue autonomously
“IT MAKES SENSE TO MOVE THE
STEERING OUTSIDE THE MACHINE.
ONCE YOU DEFINE BOUNDARIES
AND INITIATE THE PROCESS, IT
CONCLUDES BY ITSELF”
Professor Jens Krzywinski, head of industrial design and engineering,
Technical University of Dresden
/iVTInternational.com
