Robot dog could sniff out profits for farmers

The £25,000 gamma detector on the robot dog measures naturally occurring levels of radiation in the soil.

Other more conventional-looking robots on tank-like tracks have also been involved in the work.

Mr Barrett said: “Usually I’d use a trowel to dig out soil from five areas in a field.

“Then I’d have to send this to a laboratory and wait for the results.”

Trial leader Will Blake, from the University of Plymouth, said: “The ultimate goal is to provide a map of soil properties that are relevant to the farmer and his decision-making.

“The problem that you have with traditional conventional soil assessments is that they’re very time consuming and expensive.

“Normally, a farmer can only afford to have a few samples taken from any one field, then you have to wait some days or weeks for the data to come through.”