What if cows could herd themselves? They’re probably not there just yet (Ed: if you know of any self-herding cows please reach out to us) but researchers at the University of Sydney will tell you their ‘SwagBot’ is the next best thing. Border Collies will soon be out of a job.
SwagBot started its humble beginnings in 2016 as a herding robot but researchers have since upgraded it with sensors and access to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems. The augments mean SwagBot can now monitor the health of livestock and determine the type, density and health of a pasture.
Follow SwagBot, it knows the way
It can send this info back to the farmer but, more impressively, can also use the data to autonomously herd livestock to the best field with the juiciest grazing to avoid degrading the soil.
“You want to move the animals to the right part of the pasture where there is good protein, good carbs,” said Salah Sukkarieh, a University of Sydney professor of robotics and intelligent systems and a SwagBot team member. “Once the cattle are used to the robot, they will follow the robot around.”
Any farmer will understand the need to constantly monitor the health of their pastures so they can determine how much livestock the land can support at any given time. That becomes more difficult when you scale up the size of the kraal or the number of animals. That’s where SwagBot can step in with its sensors and algorithms.
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Unfortunately, it’s still in development in Australia for now and there’s no telling if this particular agricultural robot will ever make it to South African pastures.
But South Africans have already proven they have the necessary goods to develop their own autonomous bots for agricultural purposes. A local SwagBot probably isn’t too far off so Border Collies should start looking for other means of employment.
