Treehugger: “Intelligent Harvesting Robot to Take Over UK Farms.” “UK scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington are working on imaging technology that will be used in a new intelligent harvesting robot. The hope is that the robot will eliminate the wasted produce, created during harvesting saving an average farm as much as £100,000 (just over $166,000) annually in lost revenue. And it’ll also help to solve an impending labor shortage in UK farms. How? The robot will be able to harvest just the right produce at just the right time, thanks to radio frequencies, microwaves, terahertz and/or the far-infra red.”

The Register: “Robot cauliflower harvesters to replace vanishing migrants.” “UK government boffins have announced that they will develop a sophisticated new infravision system, intended to let robotic machinery harvest cauliflowers and lettuces. With the migrant labourers who normally do this deserting Blighty’s shores in droves, droid harvesters are seen as the only way to prevent crops rotting in the fields and soaring veg prices in the shops.”

Smart Brief: “Small robots could help fill gap left by FCS.” “The Army is testing small, video-equipped robots in the air and on the ground as a way to give an advantage to soldiers conducting raids on enemy compounds. The effort is seen as an incremental step following the cancellation of the $160 billion Future Combat Systems program, and officials stress that the new technologies can be deployed in two years at a cost of just $2 billion. The drones under development by Boeing Co. and other firms can act as spotters for infantry brigades in addition to searching caves and performing sentry duty. One army official involved in the testing says the robots are a means of ‘transferring risk from soldiers to machines, which we’re all for’.”

Search Engine Land: “Augmented Reality is Also a Form of Search.” “Yet a further step away from the query box on mobile devices comes in the form of ‘augmented reality’. Augmented reality apps are starting to pop up on smartphones: Layar, TwitARound and several others are in development. Most recently a company called Acrossair in the UK has developed an augmented reality app for the iPhone. It helps find the nearest underground stop and related information about routing.”