Yamaha Motor Australia & New Zealand, Media Release, 15 June 2021
Digital technology and robotics combine to advance agribusiness
Australian farmers are already familiar with Yamaha’s popular range of AG bikes and side-by-side vehicles that make light work of hard tasks on the land. Thanks to an exciting new partnership, agricultural workers could soon be benefitting from a more high-tech Yamaha – one powered by robotics.
Yamaha Motor Australia Director Tom Okamoto today announced the Yamaha Motor group has entered into a joint development agreement with Australian smart agriculture technology company The Yield. The development partnership will see Yamaha and The Yield working towards a goal of improved global agricultural productivity through the utilisation of digital technology and robotics.
Possessing a strong vision to transform food and farming practices, Aussie agricultural technology specialists The Yield uses a range of digital technologies – including Internet of Things (IoT), data science, and artificial intelligence (AI) – to power new technology. Their work is designed to solve challenges at farm level and throughout the food chain.
The new development partnership will improve harvest prediction accuracy by gathering growth stage data. It will also optimise spray effectiveness through integrating robotic technologies. Collected weather data and spray guidelines will maximise autonomous spray efficiency and help growers with important on-farm decisions including when to irrigate, feed, plant, protect and harvest.
Announcing the partnership, Yamaha Motor Australia Direction Tom Okamoto said one of Yamaha Motor Corporation’s goals is to provide solutions to challenges faced by society. “With this in mind, Yamaha set up a group that invests in innovative technology and venture companies, which is the driving force behind the development of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV),” he said. “YMA is pleased to be able to assist with logistics to ensure this important initiative is successful.”
Yamaha Motor already has automation solutions in the agricultural field, using robotics technology applications such as agricultural Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV). A planned trial will combine these Yamaha solutions with The Yield’s analytics technologies to further promote business development in the smart agriculture field.
An exciting element of the partnership is a collaboration with Treasury Wine Estates of Australia, one of the world’s leading wine makers. The planned large field data collection will improve harvest prediction accuracy and spray effectiveness.
Through its investments in early-stage innovative technology and venture companies, Yamaha Motor group shows it is not only a manufacturing company, but also a company that can utilise its strengths to provide solutions that meet societal challenges.
