It was very good to wake up on Sunday to hear a programme about tests of robots to track up and down rows of hydroponic strawberries killing off powdery mildew with UV light, no pesticides needed.
Click here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000ydnb
I have said for years that agricultural robotics in the UK needs to focus on the high value enterprises where labour is in short supply that is dairy, fruit and vegetables and that is what was described. The robots are not there to replace the skilled labour of picking the fruit but to do the routine task to kill off powdery mildew which they do with UV light.
The farm employs hundreds of people and so ensuring that the robots operate safely was a key element in the design. The next step is to conduct cost benefit analysis of these systems in a business with low margins it may still be
