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

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

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

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