Introduction¶
Precision agriculture is increasingly being adopted in modern agriculture around the world and it has the potential of tackling the global challenge of food security.
This form of agriculture utilizes different technologies like GPS, drone and satellite imagery, remote sensing platforms, automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance crop (and livestock) production by enabling farmers to efficiently apply what crops need — such as water, herbicide and fertilizer — in the exact place, at the exact time and in the exact amount. As a result, these resources are better managed which help farmers cut down costs, improve crop yields and productivity.
Last year’s edition of the PARC Engineer’s League was centered around sustainable agriculture and the challenges involved autonomously navigating the PARC AgRobot (a wheeled mobile Agricultural robot) through a tomato field and estimating the crop yield.
This year, the 2025 PARC Engineer’s League invites participants to design and develop an autonomous system capable of efficiently applying fertilizers across large agricultural fields to boost crop yield and sustainability. This will involve building software to autonomously navigate the PARC AgRobot through maize fields with varying row layouts and uneven terrain, and designing a fertilizer implement capable of optimizing fertilizer application on the maize plants.
The competition consists of two phases: the Simulation Phase and the Real World Phase.
Simulation Phase¶
The simulation phase consists of two tracks:
- Autonomy track
- Design track
Autonomy track¶
For the autononmy track, teams will work with the PARC AgRobot in simulation (using the Gazebo Harmonic Robot Simulator) and use state-of-the-art tools (e.g., ROS, OpenCV, etc.) to build a software solution to autonomously navigate maize fields with different row layouts and rough terrain.
Design track¶
The design track involves designing a fertilizer implement, a sprayer or spreader for instance, using CAD software — like Fusion 360, SolidWorks, or FreeCAD — and simulating the implement in motion. The implement should be designed to be integrated with the PARC AgRobot.
Teams can choose to either work on one or both tracks.
Detailed instructions for the respective tracks are made available in this documentation. Teams are required to complete and upload their solutions on or before the Phase 1 deadline. Following team evaluations, best performing teams will qualify to compete in Phase 2: Real World Phase.
Real World Phase¶
This phase will take place in-person in Senegal in July 2025. The top 10 teams that chose the autonomy track will compete by integrating their navigation solution on the physical PARC AgRobot in a partner farm.
Likewise, the top 10 teams that opted for the design track will compete by presenting and demonstrating a prototype of their fertilizer implement solution. More marks will be awarded to teams that are able to successfully integrate their prototype with the PARC AgRobot.
The top finalists must submit their $250 USD team registration fee to PARC by June 9, 2025 to secure their spot. This is a one-time payment covering the entire team’s registration. In return, PARC will provide each team with lodging, daily meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), transportation to and from the airport, and transportation between the dormitory and competition arena.
Certificates & Awards¶
All participants who qualify to the real world phase will receive a certificate of participation.
The winner of each track will be given a cash reward of $1000.