In 2018, Alphabet’s X lab said it was exploring how it could use artificial intelligence to improve agriculture On Monday, X announced that its project « d ‘computational agriculture’ was called Mineral.The Mineral team has spent the last few years « developing and testing a range of software and hardware prototypes based on breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, simulation, sensors, robotics and more »
One of the tools that came out of the project is a robotic buggy Powered by solar panels, the machine traverses a farmer’s field, examining each plant it passes through with a range of cameras and sensors In conjunction with satellite, weather and soil data, Mineral says the buggy and its artificial intelligence software can identify patterns and give farmers insight into their crops.
One of the main promises of the technology is that it can help farmers troubleshoot individual plants That way, if only a handful are in need of a pesticide or some other form of care, growers can save money and reduce their impact on the environment
As Mineral points out on its website, there is an urgent need to make agriculture more sustainable and productive “To feed the planet’s growing population, global agriculture will need to produce more food over the next 50 years than ‘in the previous 10,000 – at a time when climate change is making our crops less productive,’ the team says on its website Nature thrives on diversity, but the economics of agriculture make farmers cultivate monocultures In turn, this makes their crops vulnerable to pests and diseases It is also detrimental to the soil their farms depend on and to the surrounding ecosystem These are all the things Mineral wants to tackle
It may be a few more years before we hear more from Mineral In the meantime, the team says they are working with innovative plant growers in the United States, Canada, Argentina and South Africa It is also finding more companies, organizations and governments to work with in its mission “Together we will embrace the complexity and diversity of nature to build a more sustainable, resilient and productive food system”, said the team
Minerals, Agriculture, Robotics
News from around the world – GB – Alphabet’s mineral moonshot wants to help farmers with robotic strollers
