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He’s two feet tall, five feet long, and the very latest of the University of Illinois’ solar accessories and inventions. He’s a solar powered robot, and he could soon be helping America’s farmers to go green. When we worry about environmental damage and pollution, we tend to think of cities as being at the heart of the problem. But farms, too, can contribute, especially when they use large amounts of herbicide. In order to protect crops from weeds and so keep farms profitable, thousands of tons of herbicide are sprayed on America’s fields every year. This has been connected to a variety of health problems and there are concerns about its long term impact on ecosystems. So what’s the solution? Before the advent of herbicides, weeding was done manually, but this is laborious work, especially difficult in the hot sun. Still, an unpleasant job for a human can be just the thing for a solar robot. The Illinois robot loves the sun as much as human workers hate it. With an array of solar panels on his back, he can draw energy from it and work all day. He uses camera ‘eyes’ to spot possible weeds and identifies them using his on-board computer, then cuts them and applies herbicide to the stump. Because he’s doing this directly, only a tiny fraction of what would otherwise by used in spraying is necessary. The solar robot travels at around three miles an hour and can use either wheels or treads, depending on the terrain. His curved array of panels protects his more delicate electronic parts, enabling him to stay out in the fields even when it’s raining. His creators hope to design a range of similar models to perform different tasks on the farm, including soil sampling and other kinds of data collecting. He’s the prototype for a succession of solar accessories and inventions set to dramatically alter farming life. | ||||
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