They are found everywhere: on cars, tractors, wagons, trains, planes and furniture. Nevertheless, engineering students at VIA University College (formerly Vitus Bering Denmark) in Horsens are working on devising an avant-garde wheel. The “ant” is the one who is going to be using the new type of wheel. The ant is a strange-looking, driverless vehicle. It is shaped like a pyramid and in each corner there is a wheel. However, the type of wheel that allows the ant to move perfectly has not yet been invented.

The ant was invented by scientist and architect Bent Hindrup Andersen from the Department of Agricultural Engineering at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences. For many years, Bent Hindrup Andersen worked with organic pig farming. One of the many things that the ant must be able to do is to feed pigs.

Herdsman and swineherd

A container inside the ant is filled with feed. The sides of the ant have feeding points. When the ant comes into the enclosure where the pigs are, the pigs are given the opportunity to eat.

There are many advantages to this. The ant replaces the herdsman’s work of going around and feeding his animals twice a day. The farmer does not need to invest in outdoor feeders. The ant dispenses feed a new place every time thus reducing the environmental impact associated with the area around a permanent feeding station. There are no rat and bird-attracting leftovers in the enclosures. The ant can act as a sort of swineherd because the pigs follow the ant when it enters the enclosure.

- In that manner it is much easier to gather the pigs for slaughter, says Bent Hindrup.

Even though the ant is already able to feed pigs, it is still far from being fully developed. The ant must be able to move in various kinds of terrain such as mud, snow and tall grass and must also be able to move in small enclosures. It must therefore be made more agile and manoeuvrable and that calls for a new type of wheel and further development of the steering system.

Until now, the ant has been steered by a joystick. It is being equipped with satellite control so that it can move like a self-steering robot and, using computer programs, feed the pigs completely on its own. The ant will also be equipped with solar energy cells to provide it with power.

Ant workshop at VIA University College

So far, the research that paved the way for the ant has taken place at Research Centre Bygholm. In 2008 the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences will be moving its agricultural engineering research from Bygholm to Research Centre Foulum in the Viborg area.

In order to maintain collaboration with VIA University College in Horsens and to involve the students in the development, plans are being laid to establish an ant workshop at the school.

- There are lots of exciting challenges that the students can help to solve, Bent Hindrup points out. This includes the load-bearing constructions in the ant, the mechanical parts and the steering systems. It is also interesting to note that the school produces expert engineers who can provide ideas for marketing.

Bent Hindrup imagines that development work will take place in an open source environment in which the ideas that are generated from the project can be used freely in other contexts. The actual shape of the ant is protected by copyright.

Exciting prospects for the ant

In the long run, the ant will not just be content with feeding pigs. Work is already being carried out to enable the ant to mow grass in ballparks and on golf courses. The idea is that the ant can work as a grass-mowing robot that can work on its own.

For Bent Hindrup Andersen the big picture is development of a completely new type of organic farming. Instead of growing monocultures with heavy machinery, organic growing systems that pay greater heed to soil fertility, environmental conditions and local growing conditions must be developed.

The vision is to develop the ant to nurture plants individually in companion planted crops. The ant must be able to identify and remove weeds. It must also be able to move into a crop and harvest selected plant species. More research and development are needed before this can come to pass.

See the diligent ant at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7381326361144484456&q=feederant

For more information please contact academic employee Bent Hindrup Andersen, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Aarhus, telephone: +45 8999 3011, e-mail: BentHindrup.Andersen@agrsci.dk