Skip to content

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

End of farm labor - Aussie robot can herd cattle while robot in England harvests crops

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes
Robots will replace manual laborers in decades to come.

Robots that can herd cattle and harvest crops are being rolled out for tests in England and Australia. The development of these machines promises to transform the agriculture industry.

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Highlights

By Marshall Connolly (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
7/13/2016 (7 years ago)

Published in Technology

Keywords: robots, swagbot, broccoli, manual labor, AI, farms, Australia, England

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - One robot can herd cattle and pull a small trailer, another can pick broccoli six times as fast as a human. Both machines are being tested and could revolutionize agriculture.

Australian scientists have unveiled the SwagBot, capable robot on four long, wheeled legs, that can herd cattle and haul light loads around the Australian outback. The robot can pull a trailer through the mud, among other talents.


The robot is serving as a test bed for technology that will later be used to herd cattle and more.

Another robot is being developed in England. This machine can spot and harvest broccoli six times faster than a human. It already operates with 90 percent accuracy. The machine uses a 3D camera taken from an X-Box Kinect.


Robots are the future of agriculture and many repetitive, manual tasks. Unlike the human workers they will replace, robots do not unionize or demand wages or concessions in working conditions. They are never sick, or tired, or lazy. And while they may be expensive up front, they pay for themselves quickly.

This may seem like a disaster for humanity, but it does not have to be so. Some of the money that employers save by laying off millions of workers can be collected and put into education. These laborers will have to develop new skills to make themselves relevant in the new economy.  Education systems will need to adjust to teach children new skills.


Such changes may be costly int he short term, but they will be much less expensive than sustaining or policing people who have no skills for life.

Experts predict that within the next 20 years, most manual jobs will be automated as artificial intelligence and advances in robotics surpass human capabilities.

---


'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'


Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Lent logo
Saint of the Day logo

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.