Scientists develop giant robot with 3D lasers to tackle growing crisis: 'It gives me hope that there is a way forward'

When you think about agriculture, you might think about the many farm workers it takes to grow and collect crops rather than the technology used in farming. However, this sector has gone from plowing with horses and planting seeds by hand to an industry that utilizes drones, AI, and more. 

Now, there's even a giant robot — the largest of its kind — helping the agricultural industry tackle how to grow crops that can withstand higher temperatures and drought conditions.

The Field Scanalyzer, or the gantry, which stands 70 feet tall, weighs 30 tons, and is located in Maricopa, Arizona, is the biggest phenotyping robot in the world. Phenotyping is the process by which observable characteristics of plants are measured and analyzed. 

Ph.D. candidate Sebastian Calleja shared in a video with Science IRL that "it has approximately five different sensors on board: RGB sensors, thermal, hyperspectral, chlorophyll fluorescence, and 3D laser. And so what that allows us to do is it allows us to capture all sorts of data throughout the entire growth season of the particular crop that we're growing under it."

How does phenotyping help crops deal with harsher climate conditions? The Field Scanalyzer can collect up to a terabyte a day of information; that information allows researchers to understand how different crops react when they aren't receiving enough water. 

With that knowledge, researchers can determine which traits matter most in conditions where little water is available. Once that's known, scientists can then develop better plants.

The Field Scanalyzer has actually been at the University of Arizona's Maricopa Agricultural Center since 2016. German company LemnaTec built the Field Scanalyzer for Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, and the developers chose Arizona as the location for the robot's installation because its hot and dry climate may soon be experienced in other parts of the world as the planet continues to overheat. 

With the Field Scanalyzer able to collect much more phenotyping information than humans could alone, researchers should be able to develop plants that can withstand droughts and warmer climates sooner rather than later. Considering the number of areas already experiencing drought-like conditions more often (such as California), this is excellent news.

As Ph.D. candidate Clay Christenson shared in the video, "It gives me hope that there is a way forward."

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Plants that can withstand any type of weather thrown at them will help lessen food instability in a changing climate; plus, having plants that can thrive on less water could mean reduced water usage on farms, in general. The Field Scanalyzer may also be able to help us rely less on dirty energy, as it could help produce biofuels. 

Not everyone will be able to have a Field Scanalyzer on their farm, of course, but as Calleja explained in the same video, they also have drones, which do a similar job. He said, "It's just a little bit more scalable. And so not everybody can have a gantry system, but most people can purchase a drone."

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