Thanks to its six arms, the Stickbug robot can pollinate multiple flowers simultaneously at a rate of 1.5 pollinations per minute.
Stickbug pollination robot. Video: WVUIRL
In response to the threat faced by pollinator species, particularly certain bees, moths, butterflies, and flies, a research team from West Virginia University has developed a prototype pollination robot called Stickbug, as reported by Interesting Engineering on May 1st. The study has been published in the arXiv database.
Stickbug is specifically designed for greenhouse environments. The robot is engineered for easy navigation through narrow pathways using a Kiwi drive system. It also features exploration and classification devices that help identify target flowers. It conducts contact pollination using an end effector (the part at the end of the robot’s arm) equipped with a felt tip.
The robot focuses on precision, flexibility, and access to resources.
With six arms and six controllers, Stickbug can pollinate multiple flowers at once and perform various tasks independently. The robot emphasizes precision, flexibility, and access to resources, such as publicly available databases on black raspberry flowers.
In practical testing, the Stickbug prototype was placed before an artificial black raspberry plant since it was not the natural flowering season. The robot’s mission was to pollinate as many flowers as possible within five minutes. Initial tests indicated that Stickbug could achieve 1.5 pollinations per minute with a success rate of around 50%.
The research team plans to conduct further studies with tests on real plants during the flowering season. If successful through all levels of testing, Stickbug could be a promising solution to compensate for the decline of natural pollinators, contributing to global food security.
