The farm “Melnyk-Agro” from Ternopil unexpectedly became involved in space issues. Boston Dynamics provided a platform from the Mars rover to help local women workers transport cargo.
“Mars rover” on the Ternopil farm
It sounds like an anecdote, but space technology is really already helping to grow agricultural products. At least, it has already become a reality at the “Melnyk-Agro” farm in Ternopil. How it happened and what is really happening there, its owner Mykola Melnyk told in an article in the magazine “Gardening in Ukrainian”.
According to him, he has acquaintances who work in the famous American firm Boston Dynamics. They provided him with a vehicle based on an autonomous wheeled platform, which was being developed for the Mars rover.
The company employs mostly women and the greenhouse is 200 meters long. When the harvest of cucumbers, for example, is ripe, it is difficult for them to carry them to the warehouse in buckets. This is where the robot helps them.
Will “Mars rovers” take jobs away from Ukrainians
The main task of the “Mars rover” on the farm is to bring water containers into the greenhouse and take the produce outside. However, there is no need to worry that robots may leave people unemployed in the near future.
According to Mykola Melnyk, there are still a lot of operations on the farm that only workers can perform: tying, pruning and breaking. Perhaps in the future, robots will be able to perform them as well, but that will not happen tomorrow.
Provided by agrotimes.ua
