News ·
Smart robot will help farmers protect our Reef
We’re improving water quality on our Great Barrier Reef by helping sugarcane farmers cut their use of herbicides by at least 80%.
Together with our partners at James Cook University, AutoWeed and Sugar Research Australia, we’re creating a new smart weed detection and spraying system for sugarcane growers.
The technology uses a type of artificial intelligence called ‘deep learning’ to detect and spray weeds without hitting crops, saving farmers money by reducing waste.
A Queensland start-up, AutoWeed has collected hundreds of thousands of images of sugarcane, using them to train the system to detect weeds.
The next phase of the project will involve on-ground trials on sugarcane farms in the Burdekin region.
This is just one of more than 100 Reef-saving projects we’re delivering right now. Find out what else we’re doing to improve water quality on our Reef.
