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A new tree-climbing robot may potentially save countless trees but has failed to convince the SAR’s leading arborist that it can ever replace humans in preventing tragic tree-related accidents and injuries.
The robot, which costs about HK$2,000 to build, is still at an experimental stage and has about a year of refining and perfecting to go.<\/p>\n
Xu predicts the Treebot will help immensely with monitoring trees and their health, as it is often too late to save them once rot sets in.<\/p>\n
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An early warning system would also help avoid tragedies such as the one in Stanley three years ago, when student Kitty Chong Chung-yin, 19, was crushed to death by a falling, diseased coral tree.<\/p>\n
“There are some things that a human being just can’t do,” Xu said.<\/p>\n
But tree expert and University of Hong Kong professor Jim Chi-yung believes placing that many robots on every tree is “unrealistic.”<\/p>\n
He also said that many early detections of sick trees may be made from the ground level itself.<\/p>\n
“A robot isn’t necessary,” Jim said. “You need people who know how to interpret what they see.”<\/p>\n
Instead, he suggests that robots be used after a problem has been detected – as a way of gathering more information – rather than as a warning system.<\/p>\n
Inspired by inchworms while he was out hiking, Xu and his team borrowed the expand-and-retract motion of the worms for Treebot, which makes it highly flexible.<\/p>\n
It is also equipped with a camera that can send images of trees in real time, and thus act as an effective early warning system.<\/p>\n
Another advantage of the Treebot – says Lam Tin-lum, a postdoctoral research assistant on the robotics team – is that if it “needs to be in the trees for a long time, it can also support a solar cell, so that there’s no need to stop working to recharge.”<\/p>\n
On its own, the regular battery lasts up to three hours.<\/p>\n
In the coming months, the lab hopes to further refine the Treebot’s monitoring skills.<\/p>\n
“With camera lenses, if it’s too dark outside, it may be difficult to see the images even if they are projected immediately,” Lam said.<\/p>\n
The robot is also currently not water-resistant, which may cause it to slip if it rains.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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