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The world’s largest agricultural robot, the 70-foot-tall 30-ton Field Scanalyzer, rolls across a test plot of sunflowers in the 118°F (47°C) heat of Maricopa, Arizona, to help researchers at the University of Arizona understand their response to high heat and drought. With the projected climate of the future hanging over Arizona today, the Scanalyzer, which takes thousands of images of each plant, uses machine-learning and AI to determine which plants are most efficient at converting sunlight to biomass or grain with the least amount of water. The ultimate goal is to develop heat- and drought-tolerant varieties of sunflowers, sorghum, wheat, and even lettuce for the world’s farmers. “What I hope it will enable is sustainable production of nutritious calories for people,” Dr. Duke Pauli, who oversees the research and is seen here on a ladder under the device, told the Wall Street Journal. “That’s the goal of this whole project: improving the human condition.”

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The world’s largest agricultural robot, the 70-foot-tall 30-ton Field Scanalyzer, rolls across a test plot of sunflowers in the 118°F (47°C) heat of Maricopa, Arizona, to help researchers at the University of Arizona understand their response to high heat and drought. With the projected climate of the future hanging over Arizona today, the Scanalyzer, which takes thousands of images of each plant, uses machine-learning and AI to determine which plants are most efficient at converting sunlight to biomass or grain with the least amount of water. The ultimate goal is to develop heat- and drought-tolerant varieties of sunflowers, sorghum, wheat, and even lettuce for the world’s farmers. “What I hope it will enable is sustainable production of nutritious calories for people,” Dr. Duke Pauli, who oversees the research and is seen here on a ladder under the device, told the Wall Street Journal. “That’s the goal of this whole project: improving the human condition.”

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