In 2017 alone, the country lost 32,000 acres of tree cover, with wildfires responsible for 75 percent<\/a> of that destruction. Many of these fires occur in steep, rugged terrain that volunteers and forestry crews cannot access.<\/p>\n \u201cSteep terrain prevents manual planting and heavy machinery from reaching most of Portugal\u2019s burned areas,\u201d the duo explains in a recent crowdfunding video<\/a> describing their work. With more than 60 percent of Portugal\u2019s forests located on difficult slopes, conventional replanting methods have struggled to keep pace with recurring fires and degraded soil.<\/p>\n A six-legged robot built for terrain humans can\u2019t reach<\/p>\n The two students began prototyping Trovador in 2023<\/a> to address the terrain issue directly. Their first \u20ac15 prototype, built from recycled parts, planted saplings 28 percent faster than humans, with a reported 90 percent survival rate and no post-planting care required. <\/p>\n Smithsonian Magazine reported<\/a> that this initial result drove the pair to develop a more robust version capable of operating autonomously on slopes up to 45 degrees.<\/p>\n \u201cWe build all-terrain robots that carry baby trees on their backs and plant them autonomously across difficult terrain,\u201d Bernardino says in the report.<\/p>\n Trovador\u2019s hexapod design distributes weight evenly across the soil, preventing compaction associated with tractors or other heavy vehicles, which can disrupt water infiltration and oxygen supply. <\/p>\n The robot uses a depth camera to map obstacles and adjust its path in real time, and its AI system analyzes soil pH and humidity before initiating a three-step dig-place-tamp planting sequence. <\/p>\n The team says this method has been validated to achieve 85-90% survival in field trials and the existing literature.<\/p>\n Drones have been explored for aerial seeding<\/a>, but they disperse thousands of seeds per acre with low precision. Bernardino notes that \u201cdrones\u2026 scatter seeds with low precision\u2014wasting one of the most scarce natural resources,\u201d and that some pilot projects have shown survival rates of 0-20 percent. Trovador instead plants rooted saplings one by one, reducing wastage and targeting micro-niches where survival is more likely.<\/p>\n With the robot capable of planting up to 200 saplings per hour, Trovador also uploads GPS coordinates, soil data, and battery<\/a> information to the cloud, enabling remote monitoring. Future updates will allow the robot to automatically avoid excessively dry patches and focus on areas with better growth potential.<\/p>\n From prototype to market<\/p>\n The project has already attracted significant attention. The students became finalists in National Geographic\u2019s 2024 Slingshot Challenge<\/a>, securing a $10,000 grant, and were recognized with a major European robotics sustainability award. Environmental experts see potential in the system but note the need for further field testing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Landscape architect Miguel Jer\u00f3nimo, coordinator of Renature projects at the Group for Studies on Spatial Planning and the Environment in Portugal, told Smithsonian that the concept \u201coffers a practical framework for reforestation in areas that are unsafe or difficult for people to access,\u201d but he cautions that durability, mobility through dense vegetation, and long-term performance must be proven before widespread deployment.<\/p>\n Cost is another concern. Bernardino and Mendon\u00e7a, however, plan to address this by offering Trovador as a service<\/a> rather than a hardware product. Under their model, municipalities, insurers, forestry firms, and NGOs can outline an area in an app, select native species, and receive a quote for \u201ctrees-in-the-ground.\u201d <\/p>\n The team expects the approach to be significantly cheaper than manual planting and more cost-effective than drone-based methods once seed wastage is accounted for.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Thumbnails-for-IE-articles-Trovador-robot-dog-.jpg\" "\\"Teenagers")
An image on the team\u2019s website<\/a> shows what appears to be a newer iteration or a new concept of the Trovador robot. <\/p>\n