A robot roams through rows of grapes at Cornell AgriTech’s Geneva vineyards to look for signs of diseased plants. Allison Usavage/Cornell University
Allison Usavage/Cornell University
Lights, camera, action!
Looking at Cornell’s PhytoPatholoBot, it’s not immediately obvious what the little robot is designed to do. With its low-riding base, grippy wheels, flashing lights and camera set-up (set to take two photos per second), it looks like a mashup of WALL-E and a floor lamp.
But these robots aren’t roving through space or decorating a living room. They’re monitoring the stems, leaves and