Google owner Alphabet Inc’s moonshot factory X on Monday shared details about its latest project ‘Mineral’ which will help breeders understand how a particular plant will respond to the environments it is being grown in.
The factory X has previously produced some breakthrough products including the self-driving car Waymo and the internet connectivity balloon Loon.
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“I’m pleased to share a new name: Mineral. We choose this name as an homage to the essential role minerals play in sustaining life on Earth,” a post on Mineral’s blog says.
According to media reports, project Mineral will have two parts — the hardware named Plant Buggy, and the software.
Plant Buggy is fitted with solar panels and comes with a GPS software that identifies the exact location of plants in a field. It is a low emission buggy that is powered by electricity, equipped with cameras and other tools that can identify issues with plants.
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“By mapping and imaging plants in the field, growers can troubleshoot and treat individual plants instead of entire fields, reducing both their costs and environmental impact. Tracking how the plants are growing over time can help growers predict the size and yield of their crop, enabling them to make better yield projections,” Alphabet wrote in another blog post.