AI Robot Helps Find Sick Tulips in Netherlands

AI Robot Helps Find Sick Tulips in Netherlands

　　Theo works days, nights, and weekends in the tulip fields in the Netherlands and never complains of sore muscles.

　　How is this possible?

　　Theo is an artificial intelligence, or AI, robot that looks for diseased flowers each spring.

　　The work prevents viruses from spreading among the valuable plants. The robot looks for troubled tulip bulbs and destroys them if necessary. They are removed from the healthy ones in a processing center after the harvest.

　　There are 45 robots like Theo working in the tulip fields of the Netherlands. Their job becomes important as the winter turns to spring and peak season nears. People come from around the world to see the colorful flowers.

　　Allan Visser's family has been growing tulips for three generations. This is the second season that he has used a robot. He said it is very costly¹ – the same as a sports car – about $200,000. In the past, knowledgeable² farmers would walk the fields looking for tulips that showed signs of sickness.

　　"I prefer to have the robot because a sports car doesn't take out the sick tulips from our field," he said. "Yeah, it is expensive, but there are less and less people who can really see the sick tulips."

　　The robot has been trained to see the sick plants. Red stripes show up on the leaves of infected plants. The robots roll through the fields very slowly – about one kilometer per hour – looking for sick tulips.

　　Visser called the work "precision agriculture" as he explained how the robots work. He said the robots have cameras and take thousands of photos of the tulips. The AI software considers the photos and decides which tulips need to be killed.

　　"The robot has learned to recognize this and treat it," Visser said.

　　H2L Robotics is the company that makes the robots. Erik de Jong is the managing director. He said the robots use GPS coordinates³ to be sure they are killing⁴ the correct tulip among many tulips in the field.

　　He said all of the knowledge they use in the computer program that informs the robot comes from tulip farmers—farmers like Theo van der Voort. He is the farmer that the robot is named after.

　　Van der Voort retired⁵ after 52 years of looking for sick flowers in his fields.

　　"It's fantastic," he said. "It sees just as much as I see."

　　Words in This Story

　　complain –v. to say you are dissatisfied or are suffering something

　　sore –adj. painful

　　peak –adj. to highest or busiest time

　　expensive –adj. costly

　　stripe –n. a line of color that is different from the background

　　precision –adj. very exact and affecting only what is meant to be treated

　　GPS (Global Positioning System) –n. related to or using a system of satellites whose purpose is to provide very exact positioning information to users on Earth

　　fantastic –adj. very good, great

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 knowledgeable   

adj.知识渊博的；有见识的

参考例句：

• He's quite knowledgeable about the theatre.他对戏剧很有心得。
• He made some knowledgeable remarks at the meeting.他在会上的发言颇有见地。

3 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。