# Episode 97: Robot swarms for environmental monitoring - Pratap Tokekar

- Show: [Robot Talk](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk)
- Published: 2024-11-08
- Length: 31m
- Episode: 97
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-11-08-episode-97-robot-swarms-for-environmental-monitoring-pratap-tokekar
- Listen: https://ukrobotics.libsyn.com/episode-ninety-seven-pratap-tokekar

## Summary

Pratap Tokekar, an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland, explains how heterogeneous multi-robot teams—combining aerial drones and water-based robotic boats—collaborate to monitor environmental hazards like chemical leaks and wildfires. He details the use of consensus algorithms for swarm coordination and risk-aware planning to handle real-world hardware discrepancies, such as speed variations, that break simulation-based models. Tokekar also discusses applications in precision agriculture, where drones and ground robots collect data for high-throughput phenotyping and yield estimation, highlighting the gap between theoretical algorithms and field deployment.

## Chapters

- [0:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-11-08-episode-97-robot-swarms-for-environmental-monitoring-pratap-tokekar#t=7) Introduction: Robot Talk and Pratap Tokekar
- [2:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-11-08-episode-97-robot-swarms-for-environmental-monitoring-pratap-tokekar#t=130) Heterogeneous Robot Teams: Drones and Boats for Environmental Monitoring
- [8:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-11-08-episode-97-robot-swarms-for-environmental-monitoring-pratap-tokekar#t=525) Consensus Algorithms in Robot Swarms and Bio-inspiration
- [13:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-11-08-episode-97-robot-swarms-for-environmental-monitoring-pratap-tokekar#t=783) Bridging Hardware and Software: Risk-Aware Planning and Field Deployment
- [17:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-11-08-episode-97-robot-swarms-for-environmental-monitoring-pratap-tokekar#t=1045) Real-World Applications: Wildfires, Wildlife, and Infrastructure Monitoring
- [21:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-11-08-episode-97-robot-swarms-for-environmental-monitoring-pratap-tokekar#t=1312) Precision Agriculture: High-Throughput Phenotyping and Yield Estimation
- [26:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-11-08-episode-97-robot-swarms-for-environmental-monitoring-pratap-tokekar#t=1596) Future of Swarm Robotics: Robustness and Alignment Challenges

## Topics

- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- University of Maryland (company)
- GRASP lab (other)
- University of Pennsylvania (company)
- Virginia Tech (company)
- College of Engineering Pune (company)
- University of Minnesota (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Autonomous vehicle technology deep dive at John Deere and Zoox](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2023-04-18-autonomous-vehicle-technology-deep-dive-at-john-deere-and-zoox) (The Robot Report Podcast)
- [301: Giant Novelty Check](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check) (Embedded.fm)
- [103. Ant Inspired Swarm Robots](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-01-03-103-ant-inspired-swarm-robots) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [Willy Pell from Blue River Technology brings AI to the farm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2022-04-15-willy-pell-from-blue-river-technology-brings-ai-to-the-farm) (The Robot Report Podcast)
- [47. Robotic Farming Makes Produce Better & Cheaper](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2021-12-07-47-robotic-farming-makes-produce-better-cheaper) (The Next Byte Podcast)

## Citing this page

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