The engineering firm Cohen Joseph in the south of Israel is integrating soil sensors with the anchors of Utopus. The conditions of the Negev region are challenging for agriculture. Water and nutrients are scarce, and salt can accumulate. Precision agriculture tries to control all of these factors, but in order to do so, constant measurements are needed. Utopus uses anchors for traction, and these anchors can double as probes to measure important soil properties.
| Israeli Utopus measures soil temperature on-the-go
This is the world's first tillage device that measures soil properties from a fixed point in the soil. The thermometer is integrated with the anchor and remains stable in the ground for about 5 seconds at a time. 80 seconds into the clip you can see (through the flicker) that the electronic display shows a soil temperature of 17 ℃ (ambient air temperature is 14 ℃ but not shown). 
|
|
|
Israeli Utopus tills wet soil
It had rained for more than 24 hours when the video was taken, and the soil was wet. A tractor would slip and would compact the soil. Utopus does not slip and does not compact. |
) |
| Israeli Utopus tills wet soil
Same as before, but the rain had stopped for a moment. Soil is still wet |
|
| First run of Israeli Utopus, on concrete |