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lughnasadh OP t1_ixnci8q wrote

Submission Statement

Approximately half of global agricultural farming production is lost due to pests. This robot doesn't deal with them all, just weeds, but how long before robots can tackle insects, fungi and other diseases in crops?

Doubling global food production would be a staggering achievement. It's amazing to think the mass adoption of cheap plastic robots could contribute so much to that goal.

−19

FuturologyBot t1_ixnhash wrote

The following submission statement was provided by /u/lughnasadh:

Submission Statement

Approximately half of global agricultural farming production is lost due to pests. This robot doesn't deal with them all, just weeds, but how long before robots can tackle insects, fungi and other diseases in crops?

Doubling global food production would be a staggering achievement. It's amazing to think the mass adoption of cheap plastic robots could contribute so much to that goal.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/z3solb/a_cheap_200_solarpower_plastic_robot_that/ixnci8q/

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VitaminPb t1_ixni1b5 wrote

Headline: 45% of crops lost to pests, this robot isn’t related to that at all!

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Prince_LunaShy t1_ixnig11 wrote

CW: Arachnophobia!!!

Spiders kill more "pests" than all of our methods for killing pests combined. While this robot is specifically for weeding, it's important to note that we don't actually need a wild technological solution to pest control. Techniques and strategies already exist that will be a million times cheaper and effective than spending money and electricity on expensive robots and their targeting systems. Cranberry farming has already embraced this - they sew the field with iirc hunstman spiders (or another non webspinning kind), and the spiders eat the pests. They need people who are really seriously not afraid of spiders because the way they harvest cranberries is by flooding the field with water, which causes all the cranberries to rise to the top, along with thousands of spiders. When this happens, they like to climb to higher ground, which happens to be all over the workers (oh my god I could never).

Broad spectrum "pesticides" (as in, ones that aren't targeted to one organism or a group) don't just kill pests, they kill everything. In fact, the spiders are going to die first because, like tuna accumulating mercury, they build up higher amounts from their prey. Not only do pest species often become resistant to pesticide, but they end up with no predators at all. We don't need to make mechanical pest killing machines, we need to start utilizing the biological ones that already exist and are way more cost effective. People just don't like spiders, though, and the current system gives Monsanto a bunch of money, so they're not going to stop.

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tehbantho t1_ixnk2hw wrote

Replying to VitaminPb (#655,046)

This is an advertisement. Conveniently on sale today too.

FYI: This product is from the makers of the Roomba. While they have an excellent lineup of vacuum products, it wasn't always that way for them. Let this thing bake in the development oven a bit longer, and you will see they add features that make it actually work how they claim it works.

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KillerNinja86678 t1_ixnn24a wrote

Doesnt matter how much food there is if it cant all be transported across the globe to developing countries etc.

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datagov63 t1_ixnnl6n wrote

The problem is the premise that some plants are weeds and have no value if they don't produce food.

−5

jbdi6984 t1_ixnocq9 wrote

Right. I am supposed to believe this bot replaces a good farmhand and some pesticides?

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Hapaclapious t1_ixnoo30 wrote

My brother bought one for my mom last year, it's absolutely useless.

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Dickmusha t1_ixnyx1n wrote

How fucking delusional do you have to be to think these are a logical answer to this problem. You going to making thousands and thousands of these and hope for the best while they some how don't just become mass litter in the fields and fields of wheat we have to grow? This is a useless gadget and nothing more. I am guessing this is actually an ad for this useless product.

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Hyalus33 t1_ixo2vsd wrote

If these things killed spider mites I might be interested.

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Successful_Ruin223 t1_ixo77o2 wrote

Replying to Prince_LunaShy (#655,091)

There are natural oils derived from plants,who's presence alone is a deturuant to incecets, that are safe to use in combination with DE. Dust fields with a combination of the 2 and grow small patches of said plants in places that create overlapping areas of natural oils and fragrance being released. The small areas would surely be less than the potential losses. If it took 10% of the space up it would save the rest of the 50% lost now.... unless I am misunderstanding things

3

WimbleWimble t1_ixofeag wrote

Corrected this for you:

A cheap Stealable solar-power plastic robot

Now its at least an honest advert.

4

Lynda73 t1_ixofu9f wrote

My first comment was removed because I forgot they have a word limit. But this is just an ad. Where’s the article, because otherwise isn’t this spam?

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hats_cats_muscrats t1_ixog49h wrote

OP is up up-selling useless gadgetry that will only create more e-waste.

Hard pass.

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usmclvsop t1_ixou9y9 wrote

Replying to Dickmusha (#656,745)

This product is probably useless, but robots using lasers to kill weeds without harming wanted plants will be amazing for agriculture. The amount of herbicides that can be replaced with tech will be greatly beneficial to the environment.

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TheArkansasBlackbird t1_ixouj00 wrote

ANYONE that grows plants on the regular would recognize this as BS.

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TheArkansasBlackbird t1_ixov3nr wrote

Replying to Hyalus33 (#659,479)

You are planting your pot too close together. That's why you have spider mites. If you spread the marijuanna out a little bit it gets enough airflow that the spidermites don't actually like living there.

Also why you can't get rid of them. Your shit is too close together.

I live in a spider mite infested area and I've only had them twice and they actually just died off naturally when the summer hit and the humidity went away.

You can honestly remove a lot of your pest issues by understanding what they prefer to live in and making that a non issue.

Now for the commercial grower they want as much money as they can make per square inch, so they pay to remove the issue. (don't worry, I'm also one of those, but I do my dense planting in the winter cause I sell plants to other people). But for the home grower, just opening up the space and some good pruning can give the airflow that makes spidermites go away.

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old_man_indy t1_ixp080b wrote

“Not so fast!” said the Crop Chemical Lobbyist.

“We’re listening…. With our pockets.” replied the U.S. Politicians.

1

mferrari_3 t1_ixp1yzb wrote

Replying to thisismadeofwood (#660,807)

No one thinks of plans when they hear the word pest in relation to gardening. I don't even know if what you said is accurate, but it is not commonly used and definitely being used in bad faith in this advertising.

−1

CandL2023 t1_ixp38vd wrote

This is just an ad for a piece of shit product. Now if you want to look into products that can manage weeds without chemicals check out that laser farm robot. You've probably seen clips of it rolling along torching tiny weeds. I know nothing about the unit and operating costs but on the surface it looks promising. Automated weeders and Combines seem like the way to go.

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cpt_raymondholt t1_ixp7yac wrote

so we're just letting blatant greenwashing and advertising in here now?

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Advanced-Depth1816 t1_ixpa6vt wrote

Ya PLASTIC. There are plenty of natural aromas and plants and probably more to keep pests away and real farmers know that

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LoghamSmoot t1_ixpdlj5 wrote

big ad anyway dont buy it. would take so long for the small ass solar panel to change it

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iaalaughlin t1_ixpglr3 wrote

Oh look. Another way to inject micro plastics into the environment.

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SaltyToxicContent t1_ixpivyg wrote

You try to leave one of these out anywhere near Doncaster….. it will be on fire, have kids riding on it or pulling a gypsy wagon in hours!

1

Dickmusha t1_ixpjb1j wrote

Replying to usmclvsop (#660,651)

Yeah Dragonballs would be really cool too. Then we could just wish away all of our problems once a year.

But seriously imaginary technology that fixes all our problems always sounds cool... but rarely works out. I really doubt the answer to our problems will be expensive robots flying around fields fixing things magically for us. The robot kiosks at McDonalds can't get my order right and amazon delivery drones have turned out to be rc car ice chests because practically wins out in the end. We are going to need real functioning AI before anything like this works.

−14

zempter t1_ixpkyyg wrote

Replying to Dickmusha (#663,608)

It's not nearly as far fetched as you are making it sound. But never in the near future will you be able to operate out of such a small system, especially a small solar panel.

Image recognition AI is pretty good these days though, and lazer tech can cut through a lot of materials, so it's really just a matter of having a strong power source, and a more expensive set of equipment.

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scott3387 t1_ixpm7rf wrote

The source of the weed problem is the constant tiling of the earth. Many farms around me have stopped doing it now thankfully but plenty still do it because 'that's what we have always done'.

Tilling brings dormant weed seeds up to the surface into a nice soft tilth. No till soil has about 20-50% of the weeds. It also kills 50% of the microbes every time you till (microbes are how nature converts organic matter into the stuff plants need to grow, replacing the need for fertiliser).

The problem is getting enough organic matter on the scale of thousands of acres which means that sadly artificial fertilisers are often still necessary but you don't need to till to sow seeds any more. There are automatic disk cutters, that put the seed in a very narrow slot with minimal disturbance.

Look up Dr Elaine Ingham (genius researcher) or Charles Dowding (practical teacher)

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akusokuZAN t1_ixpmqoh wrote

This is an ad. Please make a sponsored ad next time, thank you.

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akusokuZAN t1_ixpmv3p wrote

Replying to zempter (#663,825)

I literally dreamed of this, back when we had an orchard and it was a really painstaking process to remove all the weeds between the grape vines/rows. A strong laser shooting down the row with a hard surface at the end.

But as the weed is cut and falls down, it'd get in the way and my dream soon turned into a fire nightmare :)

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papak33 t1_ixps5e6 wrote

The fuck is this shit!?

This sub is such a cesspool.

1

Tablesmasher420 t1_ixpxmuq wrote

How is that little thing going to handle a thousand acre field?

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bloodguard t1_ixpyxyy wrote

If they have one that can wander over a rock garden and murder anything green I'd buy one. Even if you put a barrier down things still constantly pop up.

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theabominablewonder t1_ixq32o9 wrote

There’s some interesting reviews on youtube. You have to have a prepared bed that’s fairly flat and well organised with protectors for where you have plants growing. You have to put a barrier around its working area. Also you occasionally need to clear the wheels and if it rains, it can stop working in wet mud. So it’s a gimmick really - a lot of work to have a suitable area for it. It will work in the right conditions though. Also the sale price seems to be its usual price.

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yogacowgirlspdx t1_ixqcbu0 wrote

weeds and bugs are 2 different things. perhaps this eliminates the need for herbicide but not pesticides.

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andre3kthegiant t1_ixqdely wrote

This seems like product placement article, more than groundbreaking technology (pun intended)

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LewAshby309 t1_ixqeu8l wrote

Dont sell this as THE SOLUTION against any kind of chemicals. That's a fairytale you can tell people who have no farming knowledge.

How long does this thing take for even just 1 acre?

Now scale that up to a proper farming size.

Even if that problem would be solved you have the next issue that you can only used it as long as the plants are small.

This is meant for a small garden.

0

ThirstyTraveller81 t1_ixqwwwj wrote

They need these that can kill dandelions on your lawn. Prob would need a camera and some ai

1

scott3387 t1_ixrd1ms wrote

Replying to MiserylC (#670,604)

You can but it's generally a waste of money at home and you need far less in a field setting.

In a home garden, you start as you mean to go on with a thick layer of cardboard and 3 inches of organic matter (compost, manure, leaf mold etc, whatever you have). That smothers most weeds but things like bindweed might need continously removed until it runs out of energy (might take a year). After that a simple regular, light hoeing does most of the job for any rogue seeds blown in. Weeding takes me maybe 10 minutes a year total per 8x4 bed.

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Lysercis t1_ixrftdm wrote

I've seen those guys in action on a convention for bio farming & innovation. They had them in all sizes up to as big as as a small car and even flying watering drones!

I made a joke pointing at the booths of some tractor manufacturers that they better make their tractors flying or in twenty years it will be all drones and some people got really mad at me.

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Dickmusha t1_ixriyuw wrote

Replying to MilkshakeBoy78 (#669,371)

Ok sure. I order a chicken quesadilla literally last week at taco bell and it sent the wrong items to the cash register. So it gave me a different item because the skus in their system changed and the cashier literally told me "Oh yeah its been doing that" So no. I mean its pointless pointing this out but its literally something that happened to me. That incident has happened to me multiple times. I'm not just making shit up I only brought it up because of the issue.

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Dickmusha t1_ixrjdpi wrote

Replying to akusokuZAN (#664,022)

None of that will work in real life. That works in farming videogames. I live a city away from farm land. That idea is not going to work its not that simple and it will never be. You need a thinking machine making actual decisions to to do anything close to this.

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Dickmusha t1_ixrjtpn wrote

Replying to hwmchwdwdawdchkchk (#664,224)

That is a massively expensive version of OPs impossible nonfunctioning example. Of course you can pump shit loads of money into making things work .. but its not going to be scalable in an economic way.

−1

usmclvsop t1_ixrmone wrote

Replying to Dickmusha (#671,825)

The very first oled tv cost $15,000 and today you can get one for $500. Technology will improve and become more affordable. You think this is a case of if but I guarantee it’s a matter of when.

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Dickmusha t1_ixrniu0 wrote

Replying to usmclvsop (#672,189)

Me right above you"
"I really doubt the answer to our problems will be expensive robots flying around fields fixing things magically for us. "

As usual people on reddit don't actually understand the points other people make but instead project what they want to fight against onto people disagreeing with them.

200 dollar shit robots will not be doing this job. The only thing capable of this job is absurdly expensive compared to the alternative ... herbicides.. technology is not at the point where thousands of expensive robots combing unbelievable amounts of farm land are going to be an economically viable answer. When AI is in Sci Fi land levels of availability we will have all kinds of magical tech. This idea is 100 years away... won't solve the real issues facing mass farming by then .. and is no where near as affective as GMOs will be at facing this issue... and the current option available is a diesel guzzling mess.

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cpt_raymondholt t1_ixrtk9v wrote

Replying to akusokuZAN (#664,001)

I don't know why we can't report posts in nearly all the subs I visit for astroturfing, advertising, and the like. I'm stuck with reporting 'misinformation' or 'fundraising' for shit like this. It infuriates me, and I'm never budging on it.

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Prince_LunaShy t1_ixseu55 wrote

Replying to PersonOfInternets (#664,361)

I have also seen stuff like rasberry farmers releasing hamsters into their field. They don't eat the brambly bushes or the raspberries but they will eat the weeds and insects. I think they're released after being nuetered or something, as they imply eventually they're eaten by the local wildlife themselves. That's just probably more of a niche solution than the spider thing.

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OliverSparrow t1_ixyhunn wrote

Utter boondoggle. You have around quarter of a million plants in a hectare. At what rate is this consumer product going to sift through them for weeds? What does that do for pests? To suggest that shifting from agrochemicals to this sort of thing would "double yield" is at best misleading and at worst a lie.

1