The data collected could be used to help equipment manufacturers
A researcher at the University of Manitoba is looking for farmers to participate in an autonomous agricultural machine study.
Anita Ezeagba, a Ph.D. candidate in the university’s Department of Biosystems Engineering, needs 25 farmers and 25 non-farmers between the ages of 18 and 65, and to evaluate and usability and effectiveness of the warning system on an autonomous ag machine.
“The study is all about different warning modalities, which includes visual, auditory and tactile,” she told Farms.com. “We are looking at which modality could actually increase situational awareness for remote operators.”
Volunteers with impaired vision or hearing may be ineligible to participate.
Participants in the one-hour in-person study will be asked to perform multiple tasks at the same time.
This includes, for example, conducting an internet search to answer specific agronomic questions, then moving focus to a separate monitor that will have information about the status of a simulated piece of autonomous ag equipment.
“As the simulation is ongoing, (participants) will be exposed to various warnings, and they have to acknowledge receipt of the warning and answer questions during the simulation to show they perceived the warnings,” Ezeagba told Farms.com.
The results from the research will help determine which kind of warning farmers are best at responding to.
And this information could be a resource for equipment manufacturers.
“This will enable designers of autonomous ag machines to choose the best modality for warning systems on their machines,” Ezeagba said.
Ezeagba will begin work on this study from Jan. 27 to mid-April.
Anyone interested in being part of the study can send an email or call 431-335-9730.
Farms.com will connect with Ezeagba later in the year to learn what her research discovered.