Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Engineers are developing solar-powered AI robots that take the back-breaking work out of farming, giving Australian farmers more control over their future than ever before. Stream more science documentaries on ABC iview: ab.co/ABCScienceDocos

00:00 Intro
01:40 The Reality of Cattle Farming
03:40 Meet SwagBot: The Cowboy That Never Sleeps
09:09 Professor Salah Sukkarieh's Vision For Sustainable Food
11:11 Weeding: Organic Farming's Endless Nightmare
12:25 An Organic Farmer Tests Digital Farmhand
20:40 The AI Behind Farming Robots
23:05 Testing SwagBot's Upgrades
32:35 How Machine Learning Teaches Robots
34:51 RIPPA: The Autonomous Pest-Killing Machine
37:35 Training RIPPA To Spot Pests
39:01 Will Farming Robots Steal Jobs?
42:10 Flamethrower: Success or Failure?
48:00 Will The Cows Respond To SwagBot?
53:00 SUCCESS: SwagBot Wins Over First Cow

This Catalyst documentary was first broadcast in 2018 by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

#Robotics #Farming #Engineering #Science #Australia
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