The University of Arizona Maricopa Agricultural Center has installed a revolutionary new agricultural robotics system has been installed on 1.5 acres of cultivated land as part of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Transportation Energy Resources from Renewable Agriculture (TERRA) program. The ARPA-E TERRA program works to facilitate the improvement of advanced biofuel crops, specifically energy sorghum.

The scanalyzer that was installed is the largest field crop analytics robot in the world, and incorporates cameras and sensors that measure and record crop growth and development with unprecedented resolution.

UA will work to generate and channel extremely large data sets that capture both the dynamics of plant growth and the response to ambient conditions in the low desert under their natural environment. The event is hosted by the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, as well as the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.