How a Swedish-controlled robot is helping reforest the Amazon | one planet

a ABB Robotics Announce a pilot project, in partnership with a North American NGO Forest keepers, using cloud technology and bots to make reforestation faster, more efficient and scalable. In an unprecedented demonstration, the collaborative robot YuMi, created by ABB, is being used to automate farming tasks in a laboratory in the Peruvian Amazon.

The Junglekeepers’ mission is to protect 55,000 acres of the Amazon rainforest and reverse deforestation. Using RobotStudio Cloud technology, ABB experts simulate, optimize and deploy the programming needed for robot tasks in the forest, though located 12,000 km away, in Västerås, Sweden.

Powered by solar energy, the robot does the entire task of sowing seeds: it digs a hole in the soil, dumps the seeds, compacts the soil and marks it with a coded marker that facilitates monitoring. YuMi allows Junglekeepers to replant an area the size of two football fields per day in areas that require reforestation.

“ABB’s collaboration with Junglekeepers demonstrates how robotics and cloud technology can play a major role in tackling deforestation as a major contributor to climate change,” said Sami Attia, Business Area President Robotics and Discrete ABB Automation. “Our pilot project with the world’s most remote robot is helping to automate highly repetitive tasks, freeing up volunteers to do more important work in the rainforest and helping them preserve the land they live on.”

“So far, we have lost 20% of the total area of ​​the Amazon rainforest; without current technology, conservation will stop,” explains Mushin Kazmi, co-founder of Junglekeepers. He concludes, “Having YuMi on our base is a great way to expose our Rangers to new ways of doing things. It accelerates and expands our operations and advances our mission.”

According to ABB, because the robot operates entirely remotely, there is no need to keep professionals on site to operate the device. After the initial installation, YuMi can perform its tasks independently, with only troubleshooting when needed. The project also enables teams around the world to collaborate in real time.

The project will last about six weeks (between May and June). Upon completion of the pilot program, ABB says it intends to explore opportunities to continue helping the NGO, as well as look for other ways its robotic solutions and cloud technologies can be used in the forest.

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