| mac tm - 12/11/2015 20:28
My first thought on the robotic weed puller was "Don't we all have one sitting back in the weeds? They are called cultivators."
Does anyone think that will come full circle when herbicides quit working?
i do. but they will be smaller, cheaper, autonomous and less energy intensive to run.
there is already pushback on GMOs and you've got consumers willing to pay extra for organic because they believe it's healthier for them.
you go to farmers markets and all the growers will say, "oh, we're 'no spray'".
old-timers tell me about hand weeding a beet field. sounded pretty labor intensive, and expensive. and, even with 8 kids doing your weeding, you're going to be limited in your acreage -- but, the idea feels relatively ecologically sound. (ignoring the fact that the weeds might be indicating and trying to correct a deficiency in the soil) :-)
the hardware for the robotic / automation advances in a different way than agronomy....more along the lines of moore's curve (processor speeds doubling every 18 months). For memory, when I was in silicon valley, we charted the curve at closer to 12-13 months per doubling. the software (programming) leverages the enhanced hardware capabilities and eventually you get something that kind of works...
the upside/reason i think it will be a "thing" is that consumers (especially liberal left-coasters) will embrace the "story" behind "spray free" fields weed free thanks to an army of robotic weed-pulling autonomous "roombas" whose motive force is electricity. because everyone knows that generating electricity doesn't produce greenhouse gases (/sacrc)....i dunno...maybe they smart enough to sleep all day sucking off the teet of some solar station, then go to work at night until they've spent their stored energy.
GMO's, pesticides, and exploitive labor practices involving immigrants all wiped out at the alter of their technology "god" -- the microprocessor. GMO's are complicated and feared...patented, and often exhibit price stickiness on the way down. Roombas are "cute". They have little to no patent protection (i have one from a competing company that focuses on cleaning my labrador's hair off the hardwood), and prices will decline over time.
Heck, if some real savvy scumball develops it, they could probably get the government to subsidize these things (ahem- tesla -- ahem) under the premise that they are saving the environment or polar bears or something.
-Teddy
Edited by Teddy 12/12/2015 14:33
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what new technology will change crop production
