UC Merced School of Engineering

There never seems to be enough water for California, a state plagued by droughts, shrinking snowpack and a groundwater deficit. But a unique interdisciplinary team is developing potentially game-changing advancements in water conservation and sustainable farming by bringing artificial

It’s a no- brainer. We need this kind of technology if we want to grow food, and in particular if we want to provide food in a sustainable way. - Professor Stefano Carpin

intelligence and robotics to

croplands.

The Robot-Assisted Precision Irrigation Delivery (RAPID) project is enhancing precision agriculture and helping deal with agro-economics, climate change and sustainability by using suitcase-size robots to fine tune drip irrigators on individual plants. It’s so intuitive that it knows, for example, which grape vines need more and less water, so not a drop is wasted. This kind of precision helps guarantee more successful harvests and maximize farmland, and could save millions of gallons of water each year.

ONE SMART ROBOT

rapid in action