It goes without saying that bees have an important role to play in our ecosystem.
Finding Honeybees to now feature as endangered species serves as a wake up call to humanity. Without bees, crops do not get pollinated. Without pollination, there is no food.
The 2007 animated comedy, Bee Movie, exhibited the crisis that arises from a lack of pollination. While it may have seemed humorous back then, the reality is no joke. There is now a severe shortage of bees.
Cue in Walmart.
Known as a giant in the retail industry, Walmart is now exploring six agricultural patents, one of which is a patent for autonomous, robot bees. This approach is a step towards farming processes becoming revolutionized.
The robot bees are pollination drones, functioning as bees to pollinate autonomously.
Said to have eight rotary wings, the drone bees can be controlled using a centralized computer system, with an applicator tool to move pollen between crops.
Using sensors and cameras to navigate, the drones hold the potential to pollinate as effectively as real bees.
To create even more efficiency, the drones can operate both during the day, and at night !
The integration of autonomous robots in agriculture could see the efficiency increased with a decrease in expenses, not to mention keep agriculture and food production afloat during the investigation into the decline of bee populations.
Not only can this be profitable to Walmart, it is also be a means of improving the quality of fresh produce, and assisting in the quest to feed the global population.
#Walmart
#Robotics
#HoneyBees
