AI critters unveiled as experts hope they will tackle UK farm labour crisis

09 September 2023 , 17:05

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Spot and Crombot are proving that robots could become the perfect helpers

Say hello to a high-tech beast of the field that’s set to save our struggling farms.

This four-legged robot dog known as Spot and an AI crop-monitoring vehicle called Crombot are possible solutions to farm labour shortages. A survey found that 40% of farmers have lost crops because there was no one to pick them. More than £60million worth of food was wasted in the first half of 2022 alone, says the National Farmers’ Union.

Crombot can navigate itself around the greenhouse

Crombot is a four-wheeled greenhouse helper with a camera on a telescopic arm. It can tell if crops are ripe, detect pests and diseases, and has already been used to harvest strawberries in a trial dubbed “Robocrop” at the University of Warwick. Researchers also bought a £90,000 robot dog to try out automated harvesting and planting.

“Spot” was designed by Boston Dynamic to cope with terrain like muddy fields. Project chief Alex Keller said: “Spot could be an ideal solution for an agricultural monitoring robot, but is currently very expensive. We are continuing to develop our in-house robotic capabilities.”

Engineer Harry Boyce added: “Our research with Crombot aims to address growers’ scepticism of new technology.” Mr Keller said: “We hope to hear from growers who would like to be involved in this research – finding out how they can incorporate robots in their practices too.

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