Jody Serrano
Editor in chiefEditor in Chief at Xataka On. Before joining Webedia, I was a tech reporter at Gizmodo and The Messenger. While I've covered all sorts of things related to technology, I'm specialized in writing about social media, Internet culture, Twitch, and streamers.
Despite what TikTok may have you believe, farming is hard work, often requiring the efforts of both humans and machines. There are times, however, when neither of those solutions are up to task.
According to Ground Control Robotics, an Atlanta-based startup that designs robots based on biological systems, that’s when it’s time to send in a special, multi-legged task force: giant robot centipedes.
The startup. Ground Control’s wiggly robots came under the spotlight in a recent report from IEEE Spectrum. Co-founded by Daniel Goldman, a physics professor at Georgia Tech, the startup aims to build multi-legged robots to tackle problems faced by the specialty agriculture sector, such as labor shortages and plant disease.
The startup is an extension of Goldman’s research, which focuses on the biomechanics of locomotion in organisms, such as lizards and crabs. He investigates how they manage to move around on complex terrain like sand or bark and applies what he learns to his robots.
“I like the idea of carefully studying the animals,” Goldman said. “We use the models to test biological principles, discover new phenomena with them, and then bring those insights into hardened robots which can go outside of the lab.”
The robot. While Goldman’s robots do resemble giant centipedes, the professor points out that he doesn’t consider them to be “bioinspired.” Instead, he told IEEE Spectrum that they’re “robophysical” models of living systems.
The centipede robot is relatively simple in construction. It has a large circular head with multiple sensors and is connected by wires to four identical circular segments. Each of the segments has a motor that allows the robot to move its legs.
To get an idea of what the centipede robot can do, Goldman suggests thinking of swimmers.
“When you tune things properly, the robot goes from being stiff to unidirectionally compliant,” the professor said. “And if you do that, what you find is almost like magic—this thing swims through arbitrarily complex environments with no brain power.”
The problem. As mentioned earlier, Ground Control Robotics has designed its robot for the agriculture sector, but deploying robots on farms is nothing new. However, the startup’s robot isn’t meant for just any type of crop. It has a specific type in mind: perennial crops.
Perennial crops, including blueberries, grapes, and strawberries, are plants that are around year-round and harvested multiple times before they die. These crops can be a bit harder to care for and sometimes grow on unfriendly terrain.
For instance, farmers need humans to crawl on the ground to check the health of these plants and pull weeds. Finding people to do this job is difficult and expensive, IEEE Spectrum reports, and there is currently no automated solution.
The multi-legged task force. Ground Control Robotics hopes to change that. The startup believes that its robot could be the perfect solution in cases like these, though the product still needs some improvement before it’s ready to go out in the field.
Ground Control Robotics is currently carrying out pilot projects with the robot on a blueberry farm and vineyard in Georgia. It aims to use the experience to refine the robot’s sensing and mobility capabilities.
Image | Ground Control Robotics
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