Robot drone designed by University of Minnesota students aims to scare deer away from crops

A team of computer science and mechanical engineering students from the University of Minnesota won the Small Farm Technology award at the Farm Robotics Challenge , a national competition for college-level student teams tackling real-world agricultural problems using advanced robotics.

The University of Minnesota team’s design project, titled “FarmGuard’s Multi-Robot Deer Deterrence System,” aims to scare deer away from farms to prevent loss in crops.

The FarmGuard autonomous drone system helps farmers detect deer and keeps them from eating crops. The invention could increase the practicality of smaller farms, said Mario Jerez, a computer science graduate student and FarmGuard team member.

“One of the farmers who we worked with is losing, on average, 30% of his crops per year from d