Agro and AI
The 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), commencing May 18, 2026, in Rotterdam, will showcase the debut of SwarmOrchard, a decentralized AI framework for autonomous orchard management. Developed through a partnership between ETH Zurich and DJI, the system utilizes swarm intelligence to coordinate micro--drone fleets for precision pollination and real--time pest monitoring. This technology represents a significant shift toward "Swarm--as--a--Service" (SaaS) models in high--value permanent crop sectors.