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© The British Standards Institution 2023

Published by BSI Standards Limited 2023

ISBN 978 0 539 21175 7

ICS 65.060; 65.060.01

The following BSI references relate to the work on this document:
Committee reference AGE/6/4
Draft for comment 23/30451674 DC

Foreword

Publishing information

This British Standard is published by BSI Standards Limited, under licence from The British Standards Institution, and came into effect on 30 June 2023. It was prepared by Subcommittee AGE/6/4, Crop robots in agriculture and horticulture, under the authority of Technical Committee AGE/6, Agricultural tractors and forestry. A list of organizations represented on these committees can be obtained on request to the committee manager.

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As a code of practice, this British Standard takes the form of recommendations and guidance. It is not to be quoted as if it were a specification. Users are expected to ensure that claims of compliance are not misleading.

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0 Introduction

0.1 Aims

0.2 Roles and responsibilities

0.2.1 General

0.2.2 Owners and operators

0.2.3 Designers and manufacturers

0.2.4 Importers and distributors

0.3 AMM use cases

1 Scope

This British Standard gives recommendations for the safe use of autonomous mobile machinery (AMM).

This British Standard is applicable to ground-based AMM in agriculture and horticulture, including controlled environment production in greenhouses and polytunnels.

This British Standard is aimed at owners and operators; however, it can also be of benefit to designers, manufacturers, importers and distributors.

It does not apply to:

stationary machinery, for example greenhouse transplanting machines for which the plants are on a conveyor and transported to the machine;
conventional manual non-automated or mechanically automated agricultural machinery;
uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), more commonly called drones;
agricultural field machinery directly controlled by a human operator, whether that operator is located on the machine or in a remote location;
autonomous machinery operating only on a mechanically fixed path; or
forestry machinery.

This British Standard does not cover the use of AMM on public roads.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Safety and risk management process

4.1 Manage the risk

4.2 Identify the hazards

4.3 Assess the risks

4.4 Control the risks

4.5 Record findings

4.6 Review control measures

5 Farm planning and design

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

6 Commissioning hazard controls

7 Information, instruction and training

8 Risk management

9 Vehicle transport between fields

10 Maintenance and repair requirements

11 Emergency management

Bibliography

BS 8646:2023

Use of autonomous mobile machinery in agriculture and horticulture. Code of practice

Current

Published:

30 Jun 2023