That’s because it’s a four-wheel robot dubbed “Tom” that uses GPS, artificial intelligence and smartphone technology to digitally map the field. Most robots are still only being tested, but they offer a glimpse of how automation will spread from manufacturing plants into rural areas. “What we’re doing is stuff that people can’t do,” said Ben Scott-Robinson, co-founder of the Small Robot Company . Last year, British researchers planted, monitored, tended and harvested a barley crop using only autonomous machines robots, in what they said was a world first. Their light weight means these robots won’t compact soil the way tractors do, Scott-Robinson said.

Source: National Post November 30, 2018 09:45 UTC