Two Potential Developments

Two potential developments of Artificial Pollination in the future

1. Drone pollinators – due to pollinators around the such as butterflies and bees being at risk of extinction, insect-sized, miniature drones are being tested and developed by researchers to determine whether they can act as a viable replacement for natural pollinators.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/could-pollinating-drone-replace-butterflies-and-bees

2. BrambleBee – Robotic pollinator – A self-driving robot with arms and wheels named BrambleBee being developed to act as an artificial pollinator for plants in a greenhouse.
   https://www.wired.com/story/robotic-pollinator/

BrambleBee

As pollinating bees die off due to habitat destruction and pesticide overuse, researchers are finding ways on how to feed more people with fewer natural pollinators. Researchers at a greenhouse in West Virginia University have been testing a robotic pollinator with arms, wheels and multiple sensors named BrambleBee. BrambleBee has been developed to self-navigate around a greenhouse to identify and locate flowers of blackberry bushes and cause the flowers to self-pollinate by knocking them around. 

How BrambleBee works?
1. Establishing surroundings – Through the use of a sensing technology called Lidar, a robot builds a 3D map of the greenhouse that it’s in to ensure it is aware of its surroundings so it can self-navigate around the flooring of the greenhouse. This is done through the use of lasers which are emitted by the robot to measure distances from obstacles and objects surrounding the robot. 

2. Driving to Pollination location – When arriving at a certain blackberry plant, it scans for QR codes attached on flowers to locate specific flowers needing fertilisation. This is done using an ‘eye-in-hand’ camera attached to a mechanical arm which extends and hovers over the leaves of the plant, detecting any QR codes present on flowers.

3. Ready for Pollination – Next once the robot has identified an unpollinated flower, it positions itself for pollination. Using a 3D printed brush with flexible bristles on the end of its arm, it gently strokes and shakes the blossom of the flower to cause pollen from the male anthers to transfer onto the surface of the female stigma. This as possible as the blackberry bush possesses self-pollinating flowers where the flower can use its own pollen to pollinate.

4. Blackberry flower has been pollinated

This technique of artificial pollination is still undergoing development, research and testing. It is not currently used commercially but has the potential to be successfully used in the future if it is proven as an effective alternative to natural pollination.