Agricultural robot Agbot II, designed and built by researchers at Queensland University of Technology’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Robotic Vision, could save Australia’s farm sector $1.3 billion a year by reducing the costs of weeding crops by around 90 per cent.

The fully-autonomous Agbot ll was demonstrated for the first time in Bundaberg on 20 October 2016. Agbot II’s sensors, software and other electronics enable it to navigate through a field, detect and classify weeds and then kill them either mechanically or chemically. The robot can also be used to apply fertiliser.

The QUT team is currently in discussion with potential commercialisations partners to take this technology to Australian farmers soon.