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An autonomous robot to pollinate bramble plants
- mc32 8y agoI recall reading about hand-driven pollination in China. This would definitely be a step up. Also commercially in Japan[1] Another sector which might benefit from a different kknd of robot would be robots able nimbly manoeuver forests in order to thin them. One scout/cutter, one loader/transport to more accessible areas. [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljgpYTq7cG0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljgpYTq7cG0
- Lunatic666 8y agoWhile it's an impressive piece of technology, I think it's the wrong way to approach this problem. Of course big scale agriculture needs to spray glyphosate and the like, but a technology to minimize the usage combined with a more customized method of application should be considered, too. Hops farmers in Germany e.g. only apply insecticides to the roots of a plant to protect them from being eaten up. If the farmers add some bee hives to the mix, it might help to recover the bee population, which is better than giving up on bees and replace them.
- mc32 8y agoFor some plants, bees and other insects are ineffective --they don't pollinate all flowers (Vanilla comes to mind) but there are others like some Pears and others. So, if this tech is more effective, it's a win because harvest is increased.