Robot dogs equipped with flame throwers could be used to prevent weeds from growing on farms, offering a potential alternative to harmful herbicides.
Even highly targeted herbicides can cause environmental problems and affect local wildlife, and “superweeds” are rapidly evolving resistance to the most common herbicides like glyphosate.
Looking for alternative solutions Song Deokjin Researchers at Texas A&M University have developed a weed control system that emits short bursts of heat from a propane-powered flame thrower controlled by a robotic arm attached to a Boston Dynamics Spot Robot.
Rather than incinerating weeds, the robot is designed to identify and heat the core of the plant, which can stop weed growth for weeks, Song said. “It doesn't kill the weeds, it just inhibits their growth, giving the crop a chance to fight them.”
Song and his team first tested the flame nozzle to see if it could accurately target the center of the weeds, then deployed the robot in a cotton field that was also planted with weeds, including sunflowers, which are native to Texas.Sun Flower) and giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifidaFive tests showed the robot could find weeds and focus an average of 95 percent of its flames on them to burn them down.
Song said the Spot robot's biggest limitation is its battery life — it can only operate for about 40 minutes before needing to be recharged — but the team is working on upgrading it to a longer-lasting device. They're also considering equipping the robot dog with an electric shock device that can deliver more than 10,000 volts of current, which would stop weeds from growing for longer.
“With other machines, people use a fairly broad, inaccurate flame to kill weeds. That's been around for a while, but I've never seen anything as precise as this.” Simon Pearson A researcher at the University of Lincoln in the UK said the robot's success will depend on how precisely it can deliver the flames without damaging valuable crops.
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Source: www.newscientist.com
