AI Robot Helps Find Sick Tulips in Netherlands
2024-03-23
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1Theo works days, nights, and weekends in the tulip fields in the Netherlands and never complains of sore muscles.
2How is this possible?
3Theo is an artificial intelligence, or AI, robot that looks for diseased flowers each spring.
4The work prevents viruses from spreading among the valuable plants.
5The robot looks for troubled tulip bulbs and destroys them if necessary.
6They are removed from the healthy ones in a processing center after the harvest.
7There are 45 robots like Theo working in the tulip fields of the Netherlands.
8Their job becomes important as the winter turns to spring and peak season nears.
9People come from around the world to see the colorful flowers.
10Allan Visser's family has been growing tulips for three generations.
11This is the second season that he has used a robot.
12He said it is very costly - the same as a sports car - about $200,000.
13In the past, knowledgeable farmers would walk the fields looking for tulips that showed signs of sickness.
14"I prefer to have the robot because a sports car doesn't take out the sick tulips from our field," he said.
15"Yeah, it is expensive, but there are less and less people who can really see the sick tulips."
16The robot has been trained to see the sick plants.
17Red stripes show up on the leaves of infected plants.
18The robots roll through the fields very slowly - about one kilometer per hour - looking for sick tulips.
19Visser called the work "precision agriculture" as he explained how the robots work.
20He said the robots have cameras and take thousands of photos of the tulips.
21The AI software considers the photos and decides which tulips need to be killed.
22"The robot has learned to recognize this and treat it," Visser said.
23H2L Robotics is the company that makes the robots.
24Erik de Jong is the managing director.
25He said the robots use GPS coordinates to be sure they are killing the correct tulip among many tulips in the field.
26He said all of the knowledge they use in the computer program that informs the robot comes from tulip farmers-farmers like Theo van der Voort.
27He is the farmer that the robot is named after.
28Van der Voort retired after 52 years of looking for sick flowers in his fields.
29"It's fantastic," he said. "It sees just as much as I see."
30I'm Dan Friedell.
1Theo works days, nights, and weekends in the tulip fields in the Netherlands and never complains of sore muscles. 2How is this possible? 3Theo is an artificial intelligence, or AI, robot that looks for diseased flowers each spring. 4The work prevents viruses from spreading among the valuable plants. The robot looks for troubled tulip bulbs and destroys them if necessary. They are removed from the healthy ones in a processing center after the harvest. 5There are 45 robots like Theo working in the tulip fields of the Netherlands. Their job becomes important as the winter turns to spring and peak season nears. People come from around the world to see the colorful flowers. 6Allan Visser's family has been growing tulips for three generations. This is the second season that he has used a robot. He said it is very costly - the same as a sports car - about $200,000. In the past, knowledgeable farmers would walk the fields looking for tulips that showed signs of sickness. 7"I prefer to have the robot because a sports car doesn't take out the sick tulips from our field," he said. "Yeah, it is expensive, but there are less and less people who can really see the sick tulips." 8The robot has been trained to see the sick plants. Red stripes show up on the leaves of infected plants. The robots roll through the fields very slowly - about one kilometer per hour - looking for sick tulips. 9Visser called the work "precision agriculture" as he explained how the robots work. He said the robots have cameras and take thousands of photos of the tulips. The AI software considers the photos and decides which tulips need to be killed. 10"The robot has learned to recognize this and treat it," Visser said. 11H2L Robotics is the company that makes the robots. Erik de Jong is the managing director. He said the robots use GPS coordinates to be sure they are killing the correct tulip among many tulips in the field. 12He said all of the knowledge they use in the computer program that informs the robot comes from tulip farmers-farmers like Theo van der Voort. He is the farmer that the robot is named after. 13Van der Voort retired after 52 years of looking for sick flowers in his fields. 14"It's fantastic," he said. "It sees just as much as I see." 15I'm Dan Friedell. 16Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. 17_______________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19complain -v. to say you are dissatisfied or are suffering something 20sore -adj. painful 21peak -adj. to highest or busiest time 22expensive -adj. costly 23stripe -n. a line of color that is different from the background 24precision -adj. very exact and affecting only what is meant to be treated 25GPS (Global Positioning System) -n. related to or using a system of satellites whose purpose is to provide very exact positioning information to users on Earth 26fantastic -adj. very good, great 27We want to hear from you. Do you see other AI tools in your life? Tell us about them.