Guido Haag, of Ecoworks NZ, explains how AI and the AT220 automated trap work. Photo / Predator Free Trust, Wellington
Guido Haag, of Ecoworks NZ, explains how AI and the AT220 automated trap work. Photo / Predator Free Trust, Wellington
Almost like a scene out of The Jetsons, Tairāwhiti could be home to robot pest-control dogs in the future.
While still in its idea stage, the plan is to have the dogs patrolling private properties in the district where pest control is currently under way.
Steve Sawyer, of conservation managementcompany Ecoworks New Zealand, told the Gisborne Herald the idea was “still early days”.
“It’s something that a team of engineers and I have been looking at for a while.
“We think it would actually be a feasible option to just make it more efficient to deploy baits or monitoring systems for pests, for rats or stoats,” he said.
Sawyer pointed to current four-legged robotic technology, where the robots moved like real dogs.
“It’s quite expensive though. It’s about $70,000 for a robotic dog, so it’s probably something in the future, it’s definitely a feasible thing in time.”
He said the technology could be useful to trial in areas where the weather was rough or the terrain inaccessible.
“There’s some pretty cool technology coming away now with artificial intelligence.
“We’re using cameras in our region to identify pests ... we train the cameras and they can actually identify whether it’s a stoat or a possum.
“And then they can send you a photo, or an alert to your phone, straight away, from a remote location and let you know if there might be a stoat somewhere where you don’t want it, like in the middle of your kiwi project.”
He pointed to the idea of robotic dogs deploying from solar-powered kennels.
The “kennels” are actually docking stations where the robotic dog would go back to and recharge.
“That’s kind of The Jetsons idea of doing pest control," Sawyer said.
He said Whinray Eco Trust had been granted $1000 from New Zealand energy company Pulse Energy.
“They’ve been supporting us to undertake pest control but also think about novel ideas and how we go forward in the future.”
Sawyer also a mentioned the US company Boston Dynamics that made market-ready robots already.
“So, in future we could actually adapt their technology here in New Zealand to do some of this stuff,” he said.
He said current pest-control methods were based on people working outside, which was labour-intensive.
“But it is getting better. We’ve got some pretty neat technologies designed in New Zealand. So, using AI cameras within traps, for example.
He said a company from Whakatāne called Auto Traps recently developed a trap with an AI camera that could identify the target pest and then set itself, leaving other non-pest animals alone.
A robot dog created by US company Boston Dynamics, pictured in 2021. Photo / Alex Burton
He said there could be people in the field, somebody in Gisborne on a laptop running the project remotely, someone else elsewhere using Starlink, AI cameras and robotic dogs.
“It’s a pretty out-there way of thinking, but it’s potentially something that we could do in future.”
Emma Naylor, bat ecologist at Ecoworks Gisborne - explains the AR4 spectral bat recorder and data download to monitor long-tailed bats at Waikareru ecosanctuary, Gisborne. Photo /
Predator Free Trust, Wellington
