Engineering

Spot the Robotic Dog Will Increase Crop Yield and Reduce Costs

A more sustainable agricultural sector with RoboCrop project.

Published

4 years ago

March 28, 2022

Given the shortage of unprocessed food, more gardens are currently being opened. And with the shortage of workers, many companies are teaming up to develop robots that can help with harvesting and detecting poisons and pests.

There have been multiple projects, like agri-tech robots that are able to pick out mushrooms that are not toxic. One of the projects farmers nowadays focus on is the RoboCrop project based on a dog-like robot named Spot. The owners of the project decided to collaborate with one of the biggest farming companies Bardsley England in the UK.

With the cameras and system to scan, this robot will tell the difference between a healthy, dead, and poisonous crop, increasing crop yield and reducing costs. Farmers also aim to improve product quality. Thanks to Spot, the chemicals will be sprayed on the ones that need them, making our choices healthier.

RoboCrop project

“The MTC, by partnering with Bardsley England and Boston Dynamics, has been able to demonstrate how using advanced robotics can create a more sustainable and productive UK agricultural sector,” stated Harry Fisher, research engineer at the MTC. “Importantly, the inspection payload that has been developed specifically for this project can easily be adapted to other industries, ensuring the MTC continues to impact society positively in everything we do”.

Ben Bardsley, Bardsley England’s chief, mentioned that the company plans to produce carbon-neutral food by 2030.

“Here at Bardsley, we are passionate about working with partners such as the MTC who can help us shape the future. The global industry is going through a great change and we need to transform how we grow. Growers need to be incentivized not for what they grow, but how they grow it and the partnerships we are forming are helping us with our future”.

Other advantages these robots have is stop chemicals from spreading into the environment, better soil quality, and decreased use of fossil fuel machinery. So, thanks to them, a better future will be waiting for us.