For the unfamiliar, winemaking, an industry that dates back for millenia, might conjure some manner of romantic notions: farmers tenderly caring for vines, weathered hands picking grapes, and workers laboriously turning the axle on a wooden crusher. For most estates today, the truth couldn’t be any further than that today. Just like with every other form of agriculture, technology has permeated every aspect of winemaking, and—contrary to what any number of neo-luddites might tell you—allowing people to make better wine. The latest in a long history of winemaking innovations? Robots that automate traditionally human labour.
WEED TERMINATORS
Of the many tasks where robots can step in, it’s usually the repetitive, labour intensive ones that happen first. Weeding is one such task, where unwanted plants in the vineyard are removed so that they don’t compete with the grapevines for water and nutrients; or affect growth by blocking sunlight or harbouring pests.
To do this, one can either mechanically trim the errant foliage by hand, or take the path of less resistance by using herbicides. The chemical solution is often glyphosate, a widely-used herbicide that’s been found to be possibly carcinogenic, toxic to aquatic life, and soil-damaging; with an impending ban by the European Union slated to take place in 2022.
Some of the latest robots in the vineyard addresses this problem, automating the laborious act of weeding. One company, Vitirover, builds just such robots in the heart of fine-wine country, Saint Emilion in Bordeaux. The solar-powered units, for which the company is named after, have been created with the intention of replacing glyphosate use—with promising results.
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