A team from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute has developed an autonomous robot to find and kill dangerously spotted lanternflies before they’re even born. Spotted lanternflies are invasive insects known to destroy economically important crops. (See video below.)
TartanPest uses an all-electric tractor, a robotic arm and computer vision to traverse fields and forests while it detects and destroys spotted lanternfly egg masses.
The egg masses – which contain 30-50 eggs and are often found on trees, rocks, outdoor furniture and rusty metal surfaces – are laid in the fall and hatch in the spring, birthing a new generation of the pests each year. [Read more…] about Carnegie Mellon builds killer robot to save economy