The £25k robot dogs that could change everything for UK farmers

Robot dogs could soon be helping farmers gauge the health of their soil after a new tech trial.

Farmer Malcolm Barrett, from St Tudy near Bodmin, Cornwall, has teamed up with experts at the University of Plymouth to use a robot-mounted gamma ray detector to measure how healthy his soil is.

Scientists at the university are pioneering the use of sensors which estimate levels of organic matter and moisture in the soil, using natural radioactivity signals soil minerals produce.

This can provide data to help gauge how effective farming has been and help farmers plan how to manage soils and water, thus improving productivity. A high-tech robot dog is also being used as part of the trial, which is also backed by Innovative Farmers.

Jake Shaw-Sutton, Co-Director of Par-based robotics company Robotriks, said the trial focuses on what’s going on with the soil as it is often not considered fully despite it affecting everything around it.

Of the robot dog, he told the BBC: “He’s got a top speed of 5m (16ft) a second – which is a tad faster than I am – and he weighs about 15kg (33lb).

“The key advantage is because of those legs he’s able to climb up really difficult terrain and really difficult surfaces.”

The research aims to show how sensors can give a farmer a fuller picture of a field instantly on-site, rather than sending soil samples to a lab, waiting for results and then hoping they are representative of the whole field.

Robotriks’ robotic dog could analyse thousands of photos from hard-to-reach places such as hedgerows, using artificial intelligence to measure biodiversity.

Cutting edge technology already sees sensors operating from robots programmed to travel more slowly and accurately across fields, collecting more consistent data and cutting the farmer’s workload.

Mr Barrett said: “We’re learning more about what the soil can do for us, and what we can do for the soil. It’s helping everyone by helping the environment and we’re getting huge benefits on our farm too.

“If we can understand our soil and our crops more, we can farm smarter by targeting our approach. Having thousands of data points from the robotic sensors helps to build a whole picture – then we can see if there’s certain areas that need attention and single out management practices that work.”

Professor Will Blake, Director of the Sustainable Earth Institute at the University of Plymouth, said: “This trial has meant we can get our science out of the lab and test it in a real-world setting.

“In this field lab, we’re using robotics to deploy soil assessment solutions that the world could take on.”