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.”
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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