Adventures Abroad

NC State scientists are detecting crop disease early with a new spider robot. 🦾🔬

Researchers across departments are working together to help growers better manage downy mildew, a devastating cucumber disease. William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor Lina Quesada-Ocampo and her team of plant pathologists have been developing diagnostic tests and spore-catching traps that can detect downy mildew in plants before symptoms are shown. But in order to make the disease detection practical for growers, they needed automated solutions.

That’s where @ncstate_bae Assistant Professor Lirong Xiang and her team of engineers comes in. They are working on a six-legged spider robot that can move through cucumber fields, detecting spores with the traps while mapping its surroundings. The goal is for the robot to be able to diagnose onsite, making the detection even faster for growers.

“Because growers need to manage risk, some may apply fungicides weekly or biweekly to make sure everything’s OK. But that costs money,” Quesada-Ocampo says. “If we could reduce input costs for them and reduce disease losses for them at the same time, I would consider that a great success.”

Looking ahead, the technology has the potential to be applied to many other pathogens and crops. Learn more about this innovative research at the link in our bio.