NEW-AGRI-NOW

Who is the project aimed at

The project is aimed at developing communities with limited resources that need to develop agricultural equipment to automate farming tasks.

Project objective

The objective of the project is to develop methodologies for designing machinery and automating agri-food processes based on the socioeconomic and energy context of the environment. The methodologies developed within the project will be validated through real-world case studies as part of this project and future projects.

Project description

The project builds on the Centre's previous work on defining design methodologies adapted to specific contexts, known as “design in context”. Agricultural communities are generally more reluctant than industrial sectors to adopt technological innovations and automation. This is particularly true in developing countries, where agricultural communities operate within highly specific contexts that influence their ability to implement improvement processes and machinery designed to increase efficiency throughout the food production chain.

The project aims to develop and practically validate methodologies for designing agricultural machinery adapted to the socioeconomic and technical context of each community. The methodologies developed within the project are being validated through real-world case studies under NEW-AGRI-NOW, including:

• the design of a corn ear husker in collaboration with the National University of Loja (UNL), which will ultimately be manufactured in Ecuador and tested by local farming communities.

• the design of a cane peeling machine for use in the construction sector in Africa and South America (2016–2017), in collaboration with GICITED-UPC

• the design of specialised machinery to produce natural fertiliser from
  various types of crop waste in areas of Ecuador, in collaboration with GICITED-UPC