Robots are no strangers to jobs in manufacturing, but in France they may soon expand into the wine business. As the AFP reports, a new robot (known as Wall-Ye) has been designed specifically to help winemakers with its ability to prune vines — in fact, its creators say that it can prune up to 600 each day. And for vineyards, the machine has more to offer than just manual labor, as Wall-Ye also has the added ability to record data on plants and soil using six built-in cameras. It also includes a GPS and gyroscope that serve as a security feature, so that the robot knows when it’s not where it should be. “If that happens, the hard-drive self-destructs and the robot sends a message to the winegrower: ‘Help!’” says creator Christophe Millot. Wall-Ye will soon perform sales demonstrations for a number of vintners in the country, though those who want the robotic helper will need to spend around $32,000 for its services.
French vineyards look to robots as new source of manual labor
is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
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