Despite recent advances, robotic pollination is far from being able to replace bees to pollinate crops efficiently. While technology is moving in the direction of unmanned flying robots able to make complex decisions, they are still extraordinarily clumsy and unsophisticated compared to real bees.

Can bees be replaced?

The job is usually done by natural pollinators – most often bees – but there has been a drastic fall in bee numbers around the world, largely due to intensive agriculture, the use of pesticides and climate change. … His company says its artificial pollinator can augment the labours of – and eventually replace – bees.

Are Robo bees real?

Harvard University researchers introduced the first RoboBees in 2013. At the time, the bee-size robots could only fly and hover midair when tethered to a power source, but they’ve advanced since then. Today, the RoboBees can also stick to surfaces, swim underwater, and dive in and out of water.