To determine the most efficient way to store crops, Crover, a grain storage monitoring company based in the U.K., has developed a burrowing robot that can maneuver through grain bulk, recording and relaying data on the conditions within the storage container.

Crover’s T-shaped robot is designed to offer grain aggregators insight into the environmental conditions of grain crops stored in silos or sheds.

Source: Crover

Designed with moisture and temperature sensors, two dome-shaped wheels for propulsion through grain and the ability to create 3D maps of temperature and moisture levels within storage sheds and silos, the new robotic device eliminates the issues associated with existing methods for monitoring silo and shed conditions.

Currently, manual sampling of silo and shed conditions, which includes a spear, has proven time consuming, labor intensive and potentially hazardous, according to Crover.

With a horizontal maximum range of 81 m, the new tethered robotic device can reportedly be used with a variety of products including wheat, barley, paddy rice, cocoa beans, minerals, chemical pellets and more.