Finally: Robot cowboy

Other farmbots, however, take on less active roles than SwagBot does. And SwagBot should only get more sophisticated with time. Upcoming updates could let it identify sick or wounded animals, with thermal and motion imaging sensors detecting changes in body temperature and gait. Livestock is currently only monitored one or twice a year in the Australian outback, meaning a permanent SwagBot presence could mean a great deal in the lives of animals.

While currently only in trial mode, researchers leading the trial have told New Scientist that the tests were so successful they’re planning on moving towards animal health recognition fairly soon.