CANBERRA, Dec 12 (Reuters) – With four wheels and a bright red paint job, SwagBot is not your average cow.
But researchers at the University of Sydney say this autonomous robot is on its way to becoming the world’s first ‘smart cow’, able to make cattle farming more efficient and environmentally friendly.
First launched in 2016 as a simple herding robot capable of traversing rugged terrain, SwagBot has been updated with sensors, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning systems. The battery-powered SwagBot can now determine the health, type and density of pasture and monitor the health of livestock.
It then uses this information to autonomously herd cattle to the best pastures and move them before land is overgrazed and soil becomes degraded. It can also feed data back to farmers.
“Once the cattle are used to the robot, they will follow the robot around,” said University of Sydney professor of robotics and intelligent systems, Salah Sukkarieh, whose team made SwagBot.
