A Robotic Solution to Finding and Removing Spotted Lanternfly Eggs

A team from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute has developed an autonomous robot to control the spread of spotted lanternflies — invasive insects known to destroy economically important crops. The team created TartanPest by mounting a robotic arm to the base of an all-electric Amiga microtractor created by CA-based robotics company Farm-ng. Watch this video to learn more about TartanPest.

"Currently, spotted lanternflies are concentrated in the eastern portion of the nation, but they are predicted to spread to the whole country," said Carolyn Alex , an undergraduate researcher on the TartanPest team. "By investing in this issue now, we will be saving higher costs in the future."