Scientists in Japan have recently created a drone to target insects eating and destroying crops.
Meet the Agri Drone.
The team, made up of researchers and I.T. specialists based out of Saga University in southern Japan, wanted to cut down on the use of pesticides and tap into the ever-expanding drone marketplace.
The farmer-friendly robot has already completed successful test runs over soy and sweet potato fields, taking out 50 different crop eating pests including moths, midges and white-backed planthoppers, according to Rocket News 24.
In the video you can see the Agri Drone out on patrol. It uses an ominously-named pesticide canon with infrared technology to root out areas rampant with bugs. The patrols often take place in the early hours when farmers are not working the fields.
And if the farmer wants to completely rid his land of pesticides, the Agri Drone has that covered too. The robot has a "bug zapper" fixed to the bottom, which, according to Rocket News 24, enables the drone to engage in the bug equivalent of hand to hand combat.
The technology is still in the test phase, however. But with more successful missions out in the fields of Japan, bugs better beware: Agri Drone is coming.
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