Agricultural robots and soil compaction – Lightweight is the way
PhD defence, Tuesday 24 October 2023 - During his PhD studies, Alvaro Calleja Huerta researched the impacts on soil physical properties from using lightweight autonomous robots in agricultural field operations. These machines are likely to drive on the fields intensively in the near future and have been presented as a solution for soil compaction.
Alvaro Calleja Huerta studied how lightweight robots can protect the subsoil, but can impact the topsoil when equipped with small tyres or when passing repeatedly in the same areas.
The new research findings contribute to determine that lightweight vehicles in combination with low inflation flexible tyres and management practices could be used to avoid soil compaction.
The PhD study was completed at Department of Agroecology, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.
This summary was prepared by the PhD student.
Time: Tuesday, 24 October 2023 at 12:00
Place: 8814-3075, AU Viborg - Auditorium, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele
Title of PhD thesis: Soil impact evaluation from using agricultural lightweight robots in field operations
Contact information: Alvaro Calleja Huerta, e-mail: a.calleja@agro.au.dk, tel.: +45 50144009
Members of the assessment committee:
Director for Collective Scientific Assessment, Foresight, and Advanced Studies, Professor Guy Richard, National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), France
Associate Professor, Jaroslaw A. Pytka, Department of Motor Vehicles, Lublin University of Technology, Poland
Senior Researcher, Jim Rasmussen (chair), Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark
Main supervisor:
Professor Lars J. Munkholm, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark
Co-supervisor:
Senior Researcher Mathieu Lamandé, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English
The defence is public.
The PhD thesis is available for reading at the Graduate School of Technical Sciences/GSTS,
Jens Baggesens Vej 53, building 5221, 8200 Aarhus N.