University of Illinois Team Developed a Crop Phenotyping Robot Guided by GPS and Laptop

Deep learning is driving the new agriculture revolution. Agricultural robot scrutinizes plants so that we don’t have to.  

Phenotyping is the process of observing the physical characteristics of a plant in order to assess its health. It is a necessary part of crop breeding, It’s very tedious and time-consuming task.  

Prof. Stephen P. Long & a team, University of Illinois have developed a semi-autonomous device that is guided by a combination of GPS and a human-operated laptop to collect Phenotypic data.  

Images Credit: University of Illinois  

It’s equipped with sensors including hyperspectral, high-definition and thermal cameras, along with weather monitors and pulsed laser scanners.  

  Prof. Girish Chowdhary, who is collaborating on the project, is now working on making the robot skinnier so it can fit between plant rows more easily.   

He also plans to equip it with an obstacle-avoidance system. Ultimately, the team hopes to have a product on the market by 2021, in the US$5,000 price range.  

Well-done for this invention that could improve the agricultural efficiency in the world….! (Source: University of Illinois)