A common job for cowboys — for some, it’s an all-day duty — is riding through herds to check on cattle health. With labor getting harder to find, Salah Sukkarieh, an Australian professor of robots, is developing a solar- and electric-powered four-wheel robot to handle the work, reports the Washington Post.
The robot “will roam pastures alongside livestock and monitor the animals using cameras, sensors and infrared,” says the Post. The robot also would monitor the shape, color and texture of grass, helping ranchers decide when to shift cattle to a new pasture. Sukkarieh, of the University of Sydney, plans to run trials later this year and aims for a robot that costs about as much as an ATV.
Texas cattleman Pete Bonds says, “There’s not many of them left” when describing the hardy cowboy who can spend a day on horseback in blazing summer heat. But he told the Post that he doesn’t believe technology is ready to ride herd.