HyperBird, a cutting-edge imaging platform for observing microscopic traits in plants, can detect grape diseases – such as powdery and downy mildews, which cost vineyard owners billions in annual losses globally – days before physical symptoms become visible. 

The development of the robot is critical as managing such diseases as powdery and downy mildews in vineyards is the top concern for grape growers and viticulturists.

An autonomous robot – a base on wheels fitted with computer vision technology that snaps images of grapevines in near real-time – rolls down a long row of plants in a vineyard at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, New York.

Next spring, a small army of Cornell-developed PhytoPatholoBots (PPB) will be deployed to four grape breeding programs across the U.S. on a mission to guide the global grape and wine industry into the 21st century.