Robot gardener

Work

Accordingtotheworkingprincipleof"RobotGardener",everyplantandrobotareconnectedtoacomputernetwork.Ifplantslackwaterorfertilizers,they"inform"thecomputersystemthroughsensorsplacedinthe"soil".Therobotalsohasabuilt-inprogramforthebasicgrowthmodeofsmalltomatoes,whichenablesittodeterminetherighttimetopicktomatoes.

Althoughrobotscandomostofthedesignatedtasks,LiuHuan,a21-year-oldcomputersciencegraduatestudentandamemberoftheresearchteam,saidthatsometimessmalltomatofruitsappearinunexpectedpositions,suchasbehindthestemortherobotarm.Andthepartsthatmakeitimpossiblefortherobottocompletethepicking.

Courses

The"RobotGardener"projectoriginatedfromaroboticscoursestartedbyMITlastspring.

ProfessorDanielaRuth,whomanagestheDistributedRoboticsLaboratoryatMIT,openedaroboticscourselastspring.Thecourseisdividedintotwostages.Inthefirstsemester,studentsmainlylearnthebasicknowledgeofmakingandusingrobots,andinthesecondsemester,theywilluserobotstosolvepracticalproblems.RuthandlaboratoryassistantNicholasCorellsetthefinalgoalofthecourse-tocreatea"distributedrobotfield"attheendofthesemester.

The12studentsparticipatinginthecourseweredividedintodifferentgroupswithacleardivisionoflaborandsub-items.Somegroupsspecializeinmakingarmsforpickingsmalltomatoes,whileothersareresponsibleforimprovingthenetworksystemtobetterrealizeinformationsharingbetweenplantsandrobots.

Makinga"robotgardener"isnoteasy.Althoughthepickingworkonlyneedsafewsimplesteps,andordinarypeoplecaneasilycompleteit,butfortherobot,eachstepmustbeaccuratelycalculated.Themoreredtomatoesareconsideredripeorthemorevigorouslypickingtomatoeswillnotdamagethefruittree,youhavetoteachtherobothandinhand.Bymakingrobots,studentscanbetterunderstandthebasicknowledgeofengineeringsoftwareandhardware.

Correllsaidthattherobot"gardener"hastocompletemany"autonomousactions:powercontrol,observation,andoperation",soitisagoodacademicproject.

Prospects

ThefuturevisionoftheMIT"RobotGardener"teamistoextendthistechnologytootherplants,suchasstrawberries,smallorangesandotherplantsthatgrowinoneplacefromstarttofinish.ProfessorSankiuSinghofCarnegieMellonUniversityhasbeencommittedtoapplyingrobotstolarge-scaleagriculturalproduction.Singhsaidthatifrobotscancompletemultipleoperationssuchasweedingandharvestingonfarmsandorchards,itcanmakeagriculturalproductionfasterandmoreefficient.

"Thelong-termgoalisthatasmallgreenhousemeasuring10metersby10meterscan'spitout'fruitsandvegetablesbyitself,becausepeopleonlyneedtoaddwaterandfertilizer,andtherobotscandotherest,"Singhsaid.However,TonyGriford,anassociateprofessorofagricultureandbioengineeringattheUniversityofIllinois,saidthatatthemomentnorobot"hasenoughpowertoreplacehumans."Inaddition,evenifsomerobottechnologiescanbeputintoagriculturalproduction,theyarequiteexpensive,andthesystemhasmanylimitationsandneedstobeimproved.

RussandCorellsaidthattheyhopetoovercometheseshortcomingsandapplyrobotstoagriculture."Agriculturecausesdamagetotheground,soil,waterandtheenvironment,"Ruthsaid."Ifwecanallowrobotsandautomationtechnologytosupplyfertilizers,nutrients,pesticidesandfertilizersondemand,insteadoftheexistingpractices."Theenvironmentwillbeimprovedbyspreadinginalargeareawithoutanydiscrimination."