Agricultural Robotics Safety

This course aims to build safer agricultural workplaces by strengthening awareness of robotics-related hazards and promoting practical risk mitigation strategies. Learners will be introduced to key concepts in agricultural robotics safety, including hazard recognition, situational awareness, safe operating practices, environmental responsibility, and cybersecurity awareness. Participants will also explore real-world scenarios involving autonomous machines and learn how to respond effectively to potential risks.

The Agricultural Robotics Safety Online Course includes three sections. The first section introduces learners to agricultural robotics and gives examples of agricultural robots and the tasks they perform. Section 2 focuses on hazards and risk mitigation strategies for six different types of risk associated with autonomous agricultural machines: 1) worker injury risk; 2) bystander injury risk; 3) maintenance personnel injury risk; 4) environmental contamination risk; 5) public safety risk; and 6) cybersecurity risk. The final section of the course includes a review of key takeaways and a final quiz.

The Agricultural Robotics Safety Online Course includes three primary kinds of content.

1. Slide Presentation — These presentations include the information for each lesson.
2. Knowledge Checks — You’ll encounter interactive knowledge check activities throughout the course. These activities are ungraded and are meant to reinforce the learning experience.
3. Final Quiz — The course includes only one quiz, which is at the very end of the course. You must complete the final quiz with a score of at least 70% to pass the course.

After completing all course lessons and passing the final quiz, you will receive a certificate of completion.

You can view the course content by selecting the “Curriculum” tab near the top of this page. To enroll in the course, click “Start Now” in the gray banner at the top of the page. You will then be prompted to create an account. If you are already enrolled in the course, you will see “Continue” in the same location as “Start Now.”

After selecting the Curriculum tab, you will see the course content on the left side of your screen (if using a laptop). Select a Section to expand and view its contents. If you are enrolled in the course, clicking one of the items will take you to that part of the course.

After enrolling in the course, you can move through the content using the Next and Previous buttons located at the bottom of the page. You can also use the Main Menu on the left to navigate directly to the different modules or sections.

Course lessons will unlock as you work your way through the course. For example, Lesson 2 cannot be accessed until you complete Lesson 1. Click the Complete button at the bottom of each lesson before moving to the next one. The course progress bar at top of the page shows how many course items you have completed and how many you have left.

The content for this course was developed by Dr. Roger Aby and Jakob Hanschu, agricultural safety and health researchers at the National Farm Medicine Center in Marshfield, Wisconsin. Dr. Aby is an engineer with expertise in automated machinery safety.

Course content development was informed by recent scientific literature about agricultural robotics safety. The most important of these references are listed below:

• Shutske, J. M. (2023). Agricultural Automation & Autonomy: Safety and Risk Assessment Must Be at the Forefront. Journal of Agromedicine, 28(1), 5–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/1059924X.2022.2147625
• Aby, G. R., & Issa, S. F. (2023). Safety of Automated Agricultural Machineries: A Systematic Literature Review. Safety, 9(1), 13. Safety of Automated Agricultural Machineries: A Systematic Literature Review
• Aby, G. R., Issa, S. F., Chowdhary, G. (2024). Safety Risk Assessment of an Autonomous Agricultural Machine. Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health. 30(1): 1-15. (doi: 10.13031/jash.15756).

The creation of the Agricultural Robotics Safety course was funded by the Emerging Issues Program of the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety via the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH; grant number U54 OH009568-10).