Agricultural Pest Deterrent Robot

Overview

This project addresses a practical agricultural problem: the damage caused by wildlife — particularly monkeys and wild boars — to crops in semi-rural and rural farming areas. The proposed solution is an autonomous or semi-autonomous mobile robot platform capable of detecting and deterring intruding animals using non-lethal means.

The project is framed as a capstone-ready engineering problem, balancing practicality, cost, and field robustness as primary design constraints.

System Concept

The robot operates as a mobile deterrent unit, patrolling defined agricultural zones and responding to detected intrusions automatically.

Detection

• Vision-based or sensor-based motion detection
• Configurable sensitivity and detection zones

Autonomous Behaviour

• Scheduled or reactive patrol routines
• Boundary-aware navigation within defined field areas

Deterrence Mechanisms

• Sound-based deterrence (alarm, distress calls)
• Light-based deterrence (flashing or directed illumination)
• Motion-based deterrence (movement towards intruder)

All deterrence mechanisms are non-lethal and designed to condition animals to avoid the protected area over time.

Design Constraints

The system is designed with field deployment realities in mind:

• Low cost — suitable for smallholder and community farm adoption
• Robustness — operational in outdoor, unstructured environments
• Maintainability — accessible to non-specialist operators
• Energy efficiency — compatible with solar or battery-based power where mains is unavailable

Engineering Significance

This project sits at the intersection of autonomous systems, agricultural technology, and human-robot interaction in real-world settings. It provides a meaningful engineering challenge that requires integrating perception, navigation, and actuation within tight cost and robustness constraints — making it an effective vehicle for applied robotics education and research.