Robots no sheepdog substitute, says Shropshire farmer
They're a farmer's best friend and play a vital role in rural life – but now scientists say they have found the key to replacing sheepdogs with robots.
Scientists have learned the secret of the dogs' herding ability, after discovering that the process of rounding up sheep involves just two basic mathematical rules.
One causes a sheepdog to close any gaps it sees between dispersing sheep, the other results in sheep being driven forward once the gaps have closed.
A computer simulation showed that obeying these two rules alone allowed a single shepherd – or sheepdog – to control a flock of more than 100 individuals.
Craven Arms farmer Rob Alderson, however, says herding animals using a sci-fi robot canine would be no replacement for the companionship of his three-year-old sheepdog Dell.
"I can't imagine that our dog is going to be made redundant in place of a robot any time soon," he said. "I think our dog would be very disappointed to think that somebody is even trying to replace them with a robot, but I don't think Dell has too much to worry about.
"The dogs are great characters. Not only do they work with the sheep, but they are friends with the farmer and all the people that work on the farm.
"Between their agility, knowledge, and the eagerness they show towards the people they work with, I don't think a robot would stand a chance."
The scientists who made the discovery are now looking at the implications it has on human crowd control as well as the development of robots that can gather and herd livestock.
Lead researcher Dr Andrew King, from Swansea University, said: "If you watch sheepdogs rounding up sheep, the dog weaves back and forth behind the flock in exactly the way that we see in the model.
"We had to think about what the dog could see to develop our model. It basically sees white, fluffy things in front of it. If the dog sees gaps between the sheep, or the gaps are getting bigger, the dog needs to bring them together."
Colleague Daniel Strombom, a mathematician from Uppsala University in Sweden, added: "At every time step in the model, the dog decides if the herd is cohesive enough or not. If not cohesive, it will make it cohesive, but if it's already cohesive the dog will push the herd towards the target.
"Other models don't appear to be able to herd really big groups - as soon as the number of individuals gets above 50 you start needing multiple shepherds or sheepdogs."
