[Database] Advancements in Agricultural Ground Robots for Specialty Crops: An Overview of Innovations, Challenges, and Prospects

Robotic technologies are bringing opportunities to revolutionize the production of specialty crops, offering the potential to automate tasks and save inputs such as labor, fertilizer, and pesticides. Considering the prominence of agricultural robots and their recent expansion into specialty crops, we aimed to develop a state-of-the-art review to scientifically contribute to the understanding of: i) the primary areas of robots’ application for specialty crops; ii) the specific benefits they offer; iii) their current limitations; and iv) opportunities for future investigation. We formulated a comprehensive search strategy, leveraging Scopus® and Web of ScienceTM as databases, and selecting "robot" and "specialty crops" as the main keywords. To follow a critical screening process, only peer-reviewed papers and original research were considered, resulting in the inclusion of 907 papers covering the period from 1988 to 2024. Each paper was thoroughly evaluated based on its title, abstract, keywords, methods, conclusions, and declarations. Our analysis revealed that interest in agricultural robots for specialty crops has significantly increased over the past decade, driven by advancements in vision and recognition systems. Harvesting robots have arisen as the primary focus. Robots for spraying, pruning, weed control, pollination, transplanting, and fertilizing are emerging subjects to be addressed in further research and development strategies. Ultimately, our findings serve to reveal the dynamics of agricultural robots in the world of specialty crops, while supporting suitable practices for more sustainable and resilient agriculture, indicating a new era of innovation and efficiency in agriculture.

机器人技术正为革新特色作物生产带来机遇，具备自动化任务、节省劳动力、肥料和农药等投入的潜力。鉴于农业机器人在农业领域的突出地位及其近期在特色作物领域的拓展，我们旨在开发一部前沿综述，以科学的方式增进对以下方面的理解：i) 机器人应用于特色作物的主要领域；ii) 机器人所提供的具体益处；iii) 机器人目前的局限性；以及iv) 未来研究的机遇。我们制定了一套全面的搜索策略，利用Scopus®和Web of ScienceTM作为数据库，以“机器人”和“特色作物”作为主要关键词。遵循批判性筛选流程，仅考虑同行评审的论文和原创研究，从而纳入了涵盖1988年至2024年期间的907篇论文。每篇论文都基于其标题、摘要、关键词、方法、结论和声明进行了详尽的评估。我们的分析表明，在过去十年中，对农业机器人用于特色作物的兴趣显著增加，这一趋势由视觉和识别系统的进步所驱动。收获机器人已成为主要的研究焦点。此外，喷洒、修剪、杂草控制、授粉、移植和施肥的机器人也逐渐成为进一步研究和开发策略中的新兴主题。最终，我们的发现旨在揭示农业机器人在特色作物领域的动态，同时支持适宜的实践，以实现更加可持续和弹性的农业，标志着农业创新和效率的新纪元的到来。