This is Wall-Ye, a vineyard-tending robot being developed in France. Wall-Ye costs a hefty €25,000 (US $32,000), but for that price, according to the AFP, it can "move from vine to vine, recognise plant features, capture and record data, memorise each vine, synchronise six cameras and guide its arms to wield tools." The solar-powered Wall-Ye can prune 600 vines per day and even collect data on soil and fruit. It even has an anti-theft device that causes the hard drive to self-destruct if the GPS detects it's been removed from the vineyard.
It's still in the prototype phase, but big name French wine producers including Chateau Mouton-Rothschild have offered their vineyards for test runs. And Wall-Ye's got competition: a New Zealand vineyard robot is also in the works. Below, check out Wall-Ye in action:
Video: Wall-Ye Wine Robot Takes Bow in Burgundy
· Wall-Ye Wine Robot Takes Bow in Burgundy [AFP via IEEE Spectrum]
· Wall-Ye Wine Robot Takes Bow in Burgundy [YouTube]