Agricultural Industry Initiatives on Autonomy: How collaborative initiatives of VDMA and AEF can facilitate complexity in domain crossing harmonization needs

TL;DR

This paper reviews collaborative initiatives by VDMA and AEF that address the complex challenges of implementing autonomous technologies in agriculture, focusing on safety, validation, and liability across diverse operational scenarios.

Contribution

It highlights how industry-led collaborative groups are developing frameworks and standards to facilitate domain crossing harmonization in autonomous agricultural systems.

Findings

Collaborative initiatives focus on functional architecture and scenario definition.

Use case and risk analysis are central to addressing safety and liability.

Joint efforts aim to improve efficiency and safety in autonomous farming.

Abstract

The agricultural industry is undergoing a significant transformation with the increasing adoption of autonomous technologies. Addressing complex challenges related to safety and security, components and validation procedures, and liability distribution is essential to facilitate the adoption of autonomous technologies. This paper explores the collaborative groups and initiatives undertaken to address these challenges. These groups investigate inter alia three focal topics: 1) describe the functional architecture of the operational range, 2) define the work context, i.e., the realistic scenarios that emerge in various agricultural applications, and 3) the static and dynamic detection cases that need to be detected by sensor sets. Linked by the Agricultural Operational Design Domain (Agri-ODD), use case descriptions, risk analysis, and questions of liability can be handled. By providing an overview of these collaborative initiatives, this paper aims to highlight the joint development of autonomous agricultural systems that enhance the overall efficiency of farming operations.