The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Futures Institute is conducting rural trials of robotic dogs and flapper drones.

The new technology was on display at the recent Digital Agrifood Summit at CSU’s Wagga Wagga campus.

The robot dogs are available worldwide but CSU is trilling their usage in Australian paddock for agricultural usage.

While the robot looks like a dog, its function is data collection – particularly for tasks close to the ground like soil samples, and the identification of pests and weeds. 

Additions like robotic arms or a drill type mechanism can be added for special requirements. 

The Institute’s Communication and Engagement Manager Matt Hof said the flapper drones being trialled looked like birds and used wings, instead of a bladed rotor, to propel it, using less energy than other drones.  

CSU is trialling the drone for pest and weed identification, yield estimates, livestock monitoring, groundcover density and water monitoring, and has been working on the Flapper Drone, which is manufactured in Sweden.

“They operate as a team – a team of birds flying around your farm, surveillance, counting stock, reporting back on water levels," Mr Hof said.

Flapper Drones can carry 3 and a half times its own weight, and the university says through machine learning and artificial intelligence, it can fly through fields and identify pests and weeds.