Robots & Food – Oct 25

Humans have grown food for over 10,000 years. As Earth’s climate changes and the global population seeks fresh and healthy nutrition, advances in robotics gradually transform agriculture: robots assist in precise irrigation, drones fine-tune fertilizer delivery, and mobile robots optimize plant breeding. Robots even help combine research and art. In 1995, over 100,000 people remotely collaborated to tend a living garden; and in 2020, researchers trained a robot to sustain a diverse polyculture garden. Alas, robot help in the kitchen is significantly harder to achieve than on the farm.

Our presenter, Dr. Ken Goldberg, is Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at UC Berkeley. He is an award-wining roboticist who directs Cal’s Automation Laboratory, and he is a filmaker and artist who works to bridge “the two cultures” of science and art.