Meet Spot the robodog – the four-legged K9 that could be a farmer’s new best friend

It may look a bit like one of the four-legged killer machines in War of the Worlds, but Spot, the robodog, could become a farmer’s new best friend

The K9 has been designed for use in agriculture and to cope with work in hazardous conditions.

It can walk up and down steps, climb over obstacles and navigate muddy fields and has proven itself to be “very impressive” in handling a variety of greenhouse and outdoor environments.

The robodog, created by Boston Dynamics, is just one of the innovations being tested out by researchers from WMG at the University of Warwick, who are investigating how autonomous robotics can be used in greenhouses and croppable fields.

Another is the state-of-the-art Crop Monitoring Robot, or Crombot, being trialled as a helper for growers.

The four-wheeled robot is able to manoeuvre around a greenhouse, avoiding workers, and can even follow specific individuals on command.

Crombot’s robotic arm has a camera on the end that allows it to carry out monitoring duties on plants, including identifying the ripeness of strawberries. This allows it to indicate to growers which fruits are ready for picking.

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Spot, the robodog, can walk up and down steps, climb over obstacles and navigate muddy fields and has proven itself to be “very impressive” in handling a variety of greenhouse and outdoor agriculture environments. Picture: WMG at the University of Warwick

The WMG team has been working in close collaboration with colleagues at the university’s School of Life Sciences at the Warwick Crop Centre, combining robotics and plant science expertise.

The group has begun exploring new capabilities such as automated planting and harvesting. It is hoped the specialist machines will help address shortages of agriculture workers, which have seen farmers struggling to harvest their produce.

Alex Keller, principal engineer at WMG at the University of Warwick, said: “Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot could be an ideal solution for an agricultural monitoring robot, but further research is needed to understand if Spot could progress to challenges such as harvesting and more.

“This is why we are continuing to develop our in-house robotic capabilities, so that we can help industry to create robotic solutions that are affordable and realistic for the grower, which still deliver high impact and high return on investment.

Spot is just one of the innovative robots being trialled for a range of agricultural uses by researchers at the University of Warwick. Picture: WMG at the University of Warwick

“We hope to hear from growers who would like to be involved in this research – finding out how they can incorporate robots in their practices too.”

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