Robots are fighting deforestation in the Amazon, one seed at a time
Robots. Is there anything they can’t do? Every day, it seems, robots are gaining new and innovative skills that were unimaginable only a few years ago. My news feed and email inbox are overwhelmed with announcements heralding the latest innovations. On top of that, companies and organizations are beginning to deploy robots and automation tools in increasingly creative ways to improve efficiency, fight labor shortages, and free workers from monotonous tasks. Now robots are joining humans in the fight to save our planet and reforest the Amazon jungle.
ABB Robotics recently announced that they have partnered with Junglekeepers, a non-profit designed to conserve threatened habitat in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon. The two organizations are committed to using automation and Cloud technology to help Junglekeepers reach their goal of protecting 55,000 acres of Amazon rainforest and reverse deforestation. The joint piolet project features ABB’s YuMi cobot and Cloud innovations to make reforestations efforts easier, more efficient, and scalable. The cobot is currently being used in a jungle laboratory to plant new seeds. According to ABB, the robot digs a hole in the soil, drops the seed in, compacts the soil on top and marks it with a color-coded tag. The automation of this time-consuming task, which used to be accomplished manually, allows Junglekeepers’ volunteers to focus their efforts on other activities. ABB’s RobotStudio Cloud technology allows operators to monitor the cobot’s actions from Sweden, making it the world’s most remote robot.
In a recent quote, Sami Atiya, President of ABB Robotics and Discrete Automation, said, “ABB’s collaboration with Junglekeepers demonstrates how robotics and Cloud technology can play a central role in fighting deforestation as one of the major contributors to climate change. Our pilot program with the world’s most remote robot is helping automate highly repetitive tasks, freeing up rangers to undertake more important work out in the rainforest and helping them to conserve the land they live on.”