North Carolina State robot works to advance AI artificial intelligence in agriculture [Video]

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Slowly, but surely, a robot named BenchBot 3.0 is making moves at NC State, passing repeatedly over 500 pots of different plant species for artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize.

“A human would have to look at all these pictures and say, OK, this is this species,” hardware design engineer Mark Funderburk said. “But with this system, this is all automated.”

The robot is the only BenchBot in North Carolina that researchers hope will lead to smarter tools in the agriculture industry, such as PlantMap3D, that can alert a farmer where crops need care.

“It’ll map their field for them and give them a detailed map of where they should apply their nitrogen and how much, where their weeds are growing … the lack of water, heat stress, and things like that,” Funderburk said.

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Getting computers to recognize plant species is …