Instead of bees? Robot to supply crop water

BrambleBee is a robot that takes care of the moisture of crops like a bee. As well known, bees play an important role in the moisture of crops. The problem is that population has been declining in recent years. Decreasing bees can also damage agriculture, Bramblebee replaces the bee’s moisture work.

Bramblebee is a robot under development by the University of West Virginia researchers. It can be run with tires, autonomously checking the flower position, monitoring the flower position with a camera on the robot arm, and then proceeding with moisture through parts such as brushes. It is equipped with a fisheye camera located at the top of the body and a rider that can check the surrounding situation with a laser, so you can map the surroundings while running slowly.

When mapping is complete, check the position of the flower and rotate the car body to locate the flower. Then apply a gentle moisture treatment so that the flowers captured by the camera are not damaged. Of course, we are still experimenting with QR code, but we plan to make it possible to handle flower position confirmation and automatic operation through image recognition in the future.

So far, the movement of Bramblebee is slow, so it takes time to work on the water at the same speed as the bees. In addition to the speed of the robot, if you increase the logarithm, you can do comprehensive work, and there is no restriction on the activity time like bees, so it will be possible to work efficiently in the near future. The researchers expect the robot to be a substitute for bees, rather than an alternative to bees, or to be a substitute for a bee-free place, such as in a greenhouse or space. For more information, please click here .