Robot dogs could help farmers identify crop problems earlier, reducing losses and improving yields through real-time crop monitoring.
Agricultural technology company Syngenta has partnered with the University of Nottingham to explore how robodogs can capture and analyse crop-level data. Equipped with LiDAR sensors, advanced cameras and onboard AI, the robots can assess the plant health, identify issues, and provide actionable insights directly in the field.
LiDAR enables accurate crop mapping
Syngenta’s robot dogs use two LiDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors to navigate and map greenhouse environments.
The lower sensor detects obstacles, including other robots operating nearby, while the upper sensor creates a detailed map of surrounding space. Together, these sensors help the robot dogs move independently and build an accurate picture of growing conditions.
Advanced imaging supports plant identification
Each robodog is fitted with two cameras that work alongside AI-powered computer vision models.
A front-facing camera captures depth-based imagery, enabling the system to identify plant types and pinpoint their location in a three-dimensional environment. A second 360-degree camera captures high-quality images that support detailed 3D reconstructions of growing spaces.
Researchers are assessing how effectively this technology can recognise different crops and understand the conditions in which they are grown.
Onboard AI delivers real-time insights
Unlike many agricultural monitoring systems, the robot dogs process data locally using onboard AI models rather than sending information to the cloud.
This allows crop issues to be identified in real-time, helping growers respond more quickly to weeds, pests, diseases, and other threats that could affect yields.
What robot dogs could mean for agriculture
By combining LiDAR, imaging technology and AI, robot dogs can continuously monitor crops and generate detailed, real-time plant data. The technology could give farmers greater visibility of crop health while reducing the time needed for manual inspections.
While agricultural drones mean widely used, Syngenta says research into robot dogs is ongoing as the company continues to refine their capabilities and potential role in precision agriculture.
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