TartanPest helps farmers by destroying the Lantern Spottedfly's eggs. (Image Credit: Carnegie Mellon University)
Parts of the US have been dealing with apple, hop, and grape crop damage from the spotted lanternfly. Carnegie Mellon University students developed TartanPest, a robot that kills the spotted lanternfly's eggs to help fight off the invasive pest.
The bot features a Ufactory xArm6 robotic arm and a computer vision system attached to an Amiga electric micro-tractor created by Farm-ng, an agri-robotics company in California. The Amiga tractor has a 1,000-pound payload, has a 3 to 5-hour battery life on a single charge, travels up to 6 mph, and weighs 320 pounds.
The robotic arm destroys any egg masses it may find. (Image Credit: Carnegie Mellon University)
The robot uses the computer vision system to locate masses of spotted lanternfly eggs while autonomously moving up and down rows of vines or trees. This system uses a deep learning algorithm trained on 700 images of those masses that can be found on rocks, trees, outdoor furniture, and rusty metal surfaces. One mass has 30 to 50 eggs that are deposited in autumn and hatch during spring. TartanPest uses a rotating brush on its arm to destroy an egg mass.
"Currently, spotted lanternflies are concentrated in the eastern portion of the nation, but they are predicted to spread to the whole country," said TartanPest team member Carolyn Alex. "By investing in this issue now, we will be saving higher costs in the future."
Small farmers and the broader food system could benefit from using the egg-crushing robot since it reduces chemical pollution, saves labor costs, and boosts efficiency.
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