A Student Team From Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute In The United States Has Engineered An Autonomous Robot Called Tartanpest That Can Effectively Fight Against Invasive Insects That Destroy Economically Important Crops.

The robot consists of an all-electric tractor, a robotic arm and computer vision. With these features, the robot can roam fields and forests and identify and destroy clusters of spotted lanternfly eggs using a rotating brush at the end of its arm. In this method, the brush rotates to help separate the eggs and remove them.

Spotted lanternfly egg masses can contain 30-50 eggs and are often found on trees, rocks, outdoor furniture, and rusted metal surfaces. If these eggs are not destroyed, they give birth to a new generation of pests yearly.

“Currently, spotted lanternflies are concentrated in the eastern part of the country but are expected to spread across the country,” Carolyn Alex, an undergraduate researcher with the TartanPest research team, said in a statement. Investing in this issue will save higher costs in the future.

TartanPest was created by mounting a robotic arm on the chassis of an all-electric micro tractor called the Amiga, made by California-based robotics company Farm-ng.

It uses a deep learning model that used 700 images of spotted lanternfly egg masses from iNaturalist to create a set of augmented image data. This information is used to identify invasive insects and repel them.

An invasive species

Lanterns spread quickly and easily because they can feed various fruits, including grapes, apples, hops, walnuts, and hardwoods. It has been estimated that in Pennsylvania alone, they can cost the economy $300 million annually.

This way, TartanPest can be helpful for small farmers and the broader food system. This autonomous robot will help in three areas: reducing chemical contamination of crops, increasing farm efficiency, and saving farmers labor costs.