Ag robot now on the market

TEACHABLE, ULTRA-COMPACT, AUTONOMOUS, PHENOTYPING ROBOT INTRODUCED TO INVESTORS, MARKET

An agricultural robot developed at the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences hit the commercial market at the recent Ag Innovation Showcase in St. Louis.

In August, the robot was demonstrated at the University of Illinois Agronomy Day and profiled on FarmWeekNow.com.

Named TerraSentia, the robot rolls between rows counting plant populations and measuring other crop traits.

EarthSense Inc., an agrobiology engineering company, is taking preorders for the robot, which will be ready for the 2018 growing season and sells for $4,999.

[Girish Chowdhary, University of Illinois assistant professor in agricultural and biological engineering, explains the benefits of a robotic crop scout positioned in front of him during U of I Agronomy Day last month. (Photo by Kay Shipman)]

Girish Chowdhary, University of Illinois assistant professor in agricultural and biological engineering, explains the benefits of a robotic crop scout positioned in front of him during U of I Agronomy Day last month. (Photo by Kay Shipman)

TerraSentia comes equipped with two visual cameras, a tablet app and secure cloud software used to store data and teach the robot.

Currently, the robot counts plants and measures stem widths. However, work is underway to teach TerraSentia to measure corn ear height, leaf area index, early vigor and biomass and to identify diseases.

The compact four-wheeled robot weighs less than 15 pounds and measures 11 inches wide.