(Web Desk) - An ‘army’ of robot dogs with technology capable of ‘sniffing out’ chemicals in soil and scaling 16ft in just one second have been created by scientists.
The futuristic companion features £25,000 in technology to help farmers analyse their soil.
Developed by the University of Plymouth, footage shows Ellie the Robot Dog plodding through grassy verges and scaling steep inclines.
Controlled via a remote screen, the four-legged machine can be seen stomping on the spot in a similar action to a dog digging and turning independently before heading off at speed in a different direction.
The latest Innovative Farmers trial has seen the dog reach a top speed of 16 feet a second while weighing around 15kg.
Ellie has even adopted features to make it as likeable as man's best friend
The robot can sit while looking up and even wave a paw like it's canine counterpart.
Whirling around where you would expect a mouthpiece, the four-legged technology allows the sensor to remain positioned above the ground.
Jake Gibson Shaw-Sutton, a former student of the University of Plymouth and co-director of Robotriks built the robot dog.
He told Bauer Media Group: "Ellie, our little robot dog army at this point, comes into help because we can send them into these deep ditches, into thick woodlands, underneath bushes, trees.
The developer then described how the robot has some incredible features including 3D depth sensors and stereo cameras.
Gamma ray spectroscopy and full infrared features are in the works, which would allow the machines to test soil there and then in the field.
Once upgraded, this would remove the need to send a sample back to the laboratory, reducing time and money spent.
However, the long-term investment is not so cheap with the £25,000 gamma detector capable of measuring naturally occurring levels of radiation in the soil.
Jake added: "We're testing these out in the field, coating them in mud, letting people beat them as if they would a normal tractor and because of that kind of treatment we've had far better reception, people are willing because they want to see what's capable."
He explained how the groups are now working with farmers to understand what would be the most useful way to progress Ellie for their use in the field.