LSU offers robot servant

• Advocate news services
• Published: Nov 19, 2008 - Page: 1D - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LSU grad students have developed a robot that can care for your lawn in the daytime and protect your house at night. They call it the AgBot.

The AgBot is equipped with artificial intelligence, Bluetooth, a voice recognition system, and an onboard Global Positioning System, as well as a high-torque auger, a seed dispenser and a fertilizer tank.

The GPS allows the AgBot to plot the coordinates of a yard and map out its path. Developers say the high-tech sensory identification system means there’s no danger of AgBot damaging itself or anything on the yard.

“This is truly a new, revolutionary way to maintain the perfect lawn,” said Bharat Narahari, one of AgBot’s creators.

The high-torque auger can adjust to drill holes at a variety of depths, and its motor speeds allow it to plant grass seeds in 40 seconds, he said. The AgBot also spreads fertilizer evenly, avoiding the oversaturation that causes lawn burn.

Narahari said that several of the devices, with support from a human maintenance crew, would be capable of maintaining a golf course.

AgBot is an innovative use of robotics and again showcases the latent talent in Louisiana universities, said Arun Lakhotia, associate professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Center for Advanced Computer Studies.

“All we need now is to challenge the entrepreneurs and business leaders in our midst to take these technologies to market,” Lakhotia said.

“It is high time Louisiana started taking advantage of its intellectual potential.”

The solar-powered robot has a top speed of 6 mph for a minimum of four hours. LSU officials say at night, the device combines the abilities of “a raging guard dog” and an advanced security system.

The AgBot is equipped with a night-vision camera positioned atop a 360-degree swivel. The robot also has a high-frequency alarm system and a motion detector that allows its owner to select the level of sensitivity to movement.

When the AgBot detects movement, it triggers the alarm, photographs the intruder and e-mails the picture to its owner.

Narahari said the AgBot’s creators surveyed the available literature and the market of consumer robotics before creating the AgBot.