The PhytoPatholoBot's highly sensitive imaging system represents a step forward in remote sensing for vineyard pests and diseases, and has been highly effective in trials in Upstate New York. However, further trials are still required to ensure its efficacy in a variety of climates and vineyard configurations. These trials are now beginning in Parlier, California and Brookings, South Dakota, where the head of the VitisGen3 robotics team, Dr. Yu Jiang, recently traveled.
Although the PPB's upright structure is highly recognizable within the grape remote sensing community, the most important element of the bot is the imaging system itself. This imaging system is highly adaptable and can be mounted on a variety of vehicles. It is also theoretically able to assess a suite of traits other than powdery mildew presence, including phenology, flower sex for hybrid vines, and yield estimates. This potential will also be studied during the multistate trials, and if the bot is efficacious at evaluating multiple traits of interest, it could be usefully deployed by a broader swathe of the research community.
The following photos are from the installation and training trips to Dr. Summaira Riaz of the USDA-ARS in California and Dr. Anne Fennell of South Dakota State University.
Parlier, CA:
South Dakota State University
