How a robotic dog that fire blasts weeds could help curb pesticide use in agriculture

A canine-like Spot robot could provide the answer to harmful pesticides. Forever a problem child for environmentalists, the UN has long been keen to minimize their impact. Pesticides are used to suppress weeds and aid crop growth, some types do not harm soil, but many do. Developed by researchers at Texas A&M University, the Spot robot uses heat from a torch powered by propane to blast the plant. Dezhen Song from Texas A&M University developed the robot and is now based at Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Dubai. He explains that as opposed to actually killing the weed, the aim is to weaken it at the root, preventing a quicker regrowth—which tends to occur with weeds that are physically cut back. The flame coming from the robot accelerates the process of weakening the weeds and can target “superweeds” which are becoming more resistant to more conventional pesticides. The Spot robot offers a more environmentally sound approach to weed control than the mass application of pesticides usually opted for in commercial agriculture. The UN has issued repeated warnings about pesticides. According to the organization, they have existed in the environment for decades, threaten food production, and contaminate soil and water sources. Dezhen says he hopes the robots will also replace farmers—simply because there aren’t enough of them. The human rights group the International Labor Organization estimates the percentage of people working in farming has dropped from 44% in 1991 to 26%, within nearly 30 years. Dezhen says it is a crisis. “In (the) long run, I hope this will also reduce human labor. So, it also has a cost benefit if we can bring down the robot system cost and make this traverse the field autonomously and take care of the field. “There’s another crisis that we are facing in the agriculture field, the average age of the farmer keep growing because young people do not want to do this hard work. So, there’s definitely a need for those type of robots.” The project is by no means the first example of an attempt to use robotics to solve some of the issues facing modern agriculture. This article was provided by The Associated Press.