Meet SwagBot, the robot cowboy that can herd and monitor cattle on its own

Image: Australian Centre for Field Robotics – The University of Sydney

While the name sounds like some sort of obnoxious, millennial-targeting social media app, SwagBot could instead be an invaluable ally for farmers in Australia. According to New Scientist, the technology was developed to deal with the country’s outback farmsteads, which are both enormous and sometimes far outside cities. For example, Suplejack Downs in the Northern Territory is a half-day drive away from a town and is 4,000 square kilometers (988,421 acres) in size.

SwagBot is able to keep tabs on cattle (and potentially sheep) on its own and navigate the bumpy terrain with ease, helping to guide the cows towards pastures and away from potential hazards. The university’s Australian Centre for Field Robotics is only weeks into a two-year trial to test autonomous farming robots, and SwagBot has already impressed in its early testing, showing that it can get around obstacles and do the job without constant oversight.

As the video shows, cows respond well to SwagBot’s movements, plus the four-wheeled bot can also tow trailers around the farm. SwagBot’s movements may be deliberate and awkward-looking at times, but that slow and steady approach helps the robot overcome swamps, logs, sudden drops, and other surprise terrain without toppling over. And its mandate will only get more important in the near future.

Read the full article on Agri Africa.