What industry could the Ladybird robot disrupt?

Professor Salah Sukkarieh of the University of Sydney was recently awarded Researcher of the Year by the Australian vegetable industry body AUSVEG for his work on Ladybird, a farming robot with several agrarian talents.

So named for its appearance (Ladybird is Australian vernacular for ladybug), the robot can map fields, classify objects, and detect pests and vegetable growth through an array of sensors and cameras. She also has a robotic arm for removing weeds and could potentially harvest crops.

The next phase of research will focus on automated crop picking.