Control Cabin Concept – Field Swarm

diploma thesis, TU Dresden, faculty industrial design, 2019

By 2025, mobile semi-autonomous vehicles are projected to extend beyond public roads to agricultural fields. Smart Farming advancements are driving the development of smaller, modular robots that enhance sustainable and efficient crop yields. The emergence of semi-autonomous interconnected machine systems, exemplified by TU Dresden’s Feldschwarm, raises questions about the interface and roles anticipated for future machine operators.

Considering the current technological landscape and trends in agricultural machinery, application scenarios were generated. For field processing, a potential solution involves an independent mobile cabin within the operational range for monitoring processes and machines. This setup offers the machine operator increased independence from ongoing processes, enhanced comfort, and the system gains redundancy in case of malfunctions.

Conceptually, the interior of such a cabin was designed to convey naturalness, professionalism, and trust in the novel technology through its interior structure and human-machine interface. A CAD model was developed from this design, providing visual representations of the cabin’s impact and interaction. These serve as an inspirational foundation for further exploration of the topic and are intended to stimulate discussion.