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Most folks will agree that dogs are really “man’s best friend.” After all, in general, the world’s “Fidos” are loyal, warm & cuddly, friendly, protective, non-judgmental, and forgiving. Nothing much more you could ask for as a “best friend.”
But, what about 15-pound mechanical “Robo” dogs that are capable of scaling a 16-foot fence in one second and have mechanical gamma ray detector sniffers that can analyze and quickly assess the health of soil?
That comparison is real — 00at least in Great Britain. In a news article I read this week, Robo dog is controlled via a remote screen. The four-legged machine is shown stomping on the spot in the soil that’s in need of nutritional help. It’s very similar action to a dog digging for a bone.
“Robo” has even adopted features to make it as likable as man’s best friend. It can sit on command and even wave a paw like it’s canine counterpart. Robo’s developers say their little robot dog army can help on rural land because they can be sent into deep ditches, into thick woodlands, underneath bushes and trees.
The Brit developers described some of the robo dog’s incredible features, including 3D depth sensors and stereo cameras. The developers are now working with farmers to understand what would be the most useful way to progress the robo dogs for their use in the field. Gamma ray spectroscopy and full infrared features are in the works, which would allow the machines to test soil real-time in the field. This would remove the need to send a sample back to the laboratory, reducing time and money spent.
The negative about Robo dogs, however, is this: the long-term investment is not so cheap with the gamma detector capable of measuring naturally occurring levels of radiation in the soil costing 25,000 British pounds ($32,000 dollars). But, the autonomous agricultural platform runs entirely electric and once set up can be self-deployed on a mission, monitored entirely through a computer, tablet or smart phone.
Malcolm Barrett, a British farmer working with the nature-friendly trials, claims to have seen dramatic improvements in his soil with less flooding and more worms. He says, “We’re learning more about what the soil can do for us, and what we can do for the soil. It’s helping everyone by helping the environment and we’re getting huge benefits on our farm too.”
Well, my take on Robo dogs is this: Robo may eventually find its way onto the world’s farms and ranches, but Robo will have to co-exist as second-fiddle to Fido because only Fido is able to look lovingly into your eyes and give you a warm, juicy lick on your face. Fido’s place as man’s best friend in safe.
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Last week I related a told-as-true story that wuz told by my friend Howie Didditt at our morning Old Geezers Coffee klatch. Well, here’s another of Howie’s stories that he told as the truth.
Back in the days of his callow youth in north-central Kansas, Howie and a friend restored a 1928 Ford to running condition. Neither kid wuz old enuf to legally drive on public roads, so their inventive minds came up with a solution. To their delight, they discovered that the wheels on the old car perfectly matched the width of a standard railroad.
So, without thinking their plan through to the end, they launched their car-on-rail trip. They knew the train schedule so they weren’t worried about meeting a train. They had hours to enjoy the trip.
They hadn’t gone many hands-free driving miles when they passed through a nearby town with a grain elevator located next to the train tracks. As they passed by the elevator, they merrily waved to some of the elevator workers and continued on their way.
Eventually, they decided to turn back toward home base, but they had a big problem. They couldn’t get the old Ford turned around on the tracks. As they pondered their dilemma, who should happen to drive up on the scene but Howie’s dad and his buddy’s dad, too, in a pickup truck. Someone at the grain elevator had given them a phone call.
After getting a stern lecture about their wayward ways, and the promise of some appropriate disciplinary action, the two seniors said for safety’s sake, they’d better drive the old Ford back to its starting point.
They instructed Howie and friend to carefully drive the pickup home by staying exclusively on rural roads — no blacktop or through towns. And, that’s what the kids did.
After they arrived home, the boys waited with sinking feelings for their elders to arrive on the rail tracks.
And, eventually, the dad’s showed up. But a few minutes before they arrived, the boys could hear their Dad’s roaring with laughter and clearly enjoying their hand-free driving trip home. When they dismounted and extracted the Ford from the tracks, they mutually agreed that there’d been no real harm done and the entire episode should be filed away as a two-family memory — but with absolutely no repeat performance.
And, that’s what happened.
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The way life forms are being shifted around scientifically these days, I thought of a new combination that could prove real handy on cattle enterprises.
Scientists need to some way incorporate the herbicide Round-up into the genetic profile of bovines.
The result would be labor-free Round-up Ready cattle herds.
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My words of wisdom for this week are these: “Courtship is that short amount of time between lipstick and mop stick.”
And, “Anyone who marries for money earns every cent of it.”
Have a good ‘un
