Khaberni - Two 19-year-old Portuguese youths invented an innovative spider-shaped robot capable of reforesting areas damaged by forest fires, including extremely steep and dangerous terrains inaccessible to humans or heavy machinery.
The robot, named "TrovaDor", is a six-legged planting system enhanced with artificial intelligence, created by university students Marta Bernardino and Sebastião Mendonsa after witnessing repeated losses of forests near their homes outside Lisbon.
Portugal faces challenges with forest fires
Portugal is one of the European countries most affected by wildfires, as a study from the University of Lisbon in 2024 showed that more than 1.2 million acres of forests burned between 1980 and 2023, which corresponds to 54% of its land. In 2017 alone, the country lost 32,000 acres of tree cover due to fires, which often occur in rugged areas difficult to access.
The students state in a fundraising video: "The extremely steep terrains prevent manual planting and heavy machinery from accessing most of the burned areas in Portugal."
Innovative design to overcome terrain
The project started in 2023 with a prototype made from recycled parts costing 15 euros, capable of planting seedlings 28% faster than humans, with a survival rate reaching up to 90% without the need for subsequent care.
Smithsonian magazine indicated that the initial results encouraged the team to develop a more durable version, capable of operating independently on slopes up to 45 degrees, with even weight distribution on the soil, to prevent the pressure from heavy vehicles and hinder water and oxygen seepage.
Artificial intelligence techniques in farming
The robot uses a depth camera to map obstacles and adjust its route in real time, while the AI system analyzes the soil's pH and moisture before starting the three-step planting process: digging, placing the sapling, and tamping it to settle.
This method allows planting of well-rooted saplings with higher accuracy compared to drones, which scatter thousands of seeds per acre with low precision, reducing waste and increasing the chances of sapling survival. TrovaDor can plant up to 200 saplings per hour, with GPS data, soil conditions, and battery status uploaded to the cloud for remote monitoring.
The sustainable future of TrovaDor
The development teams plan to update the robot in the future, enabling it to avoid extremely dry areas and focus on lands with better growth potential, thereby enhancing Portugal's efforts in reforestation and environmental conservation.
