Agriculture

Just like their field-dwelling counterparts, plants grown in greenhouses are preyed upon by flying insects. The Dutch-designed PATS system is designed to help, by sending tiny drones to chop those insects up in mid-air.

There are now several devices that help you keep food waste out of landfills by converting it to compost … but what if you don't have a garden? Well, the Mill converts such waste into dried grounds which are sent off to feed chickens.

While farmers have to perform a number of difficult tasks, tending to the grain stored inside grain bins (aka granaries) is particularly arduous – not to mention dangerous. That's where the Grain Weevil grain bin management robot is made to come in.

The spotted lanternfly is a serious invasive pest, causing considerable damage to crops such as apples, grapes and hops. That's why it's important to destroy the insect's eggs – which is exactly what the TartanPest robot is designed to do.

Just like pharmaceuticals, banknotes and alcoholic beverages, the crop seeds sold to farmers are frequently counterfeits. MIT scientists have devised a method of spotting the fakes, by tagging genuine seeds with silk dots.

Nobody likes the idea of herbicides in their veggies, yet hiring workers to pick weeds by hand can be prohibitively expensive. The Vulcan farm implement offers an alternative, as it automatically spots and yanks weeds while leaving crop plants alone.

In order to see how well a corn plant is performing photosynthesis, you need to check the angle of its leaves relative to its stem. And while scientists ordinarily have to do so with a protractor, a new robotic system can now do the job much quicker.

New Holland Agriculture has announced a new tractor designed to run on fuel created on-site using cow manure. The T7 Methane Power LNG offers the same power and torque as a diesel tractor, but it's part of a system that can greatly reduce emissions.

When we think of agricultural robots, we tend to picture things that pick produce or apply chemicals. The SentiV is different, though, in that it's designed to check crops for problems while autonomously wandering the fields.

According to Japanese robotics firm Agrist, there's a shortage of farm workers in that country. The company is offering a partial solution to the problem, though, in the form of a pepper-picking robot.

If fruit is going to be grown using herbicides – which is still largely the case – then the fewer of the chemicals that are used, the better. The Herbicide GUSS autonomous robotic spray vehicle was designed with just such concerns in mind.

After two years of development, California startup Monarch Tractor has launched the AI-packing, all-electric MK-V Founder Series, and announced deliveries to its first customer – wine and spirits producer Constellation Brands.