Project ARCHIE (Agri Robot for Crop Health in Insect Control), a capstone project and invention of Engr. Carol Bernadette Domalsin, who emanated from the Saint Louis University Master in Manufacturing Engineering and Management program of the School of Advanced Studies, was among the top 8 projects of Times Higher Education (THE) Awards Asia 2024 Research Project of the Year for Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
Project ARCHIE: A Response to Crop Health Management
Pests and diseases significantly challenge lettuce growers in the mountainous regions of the Philippine Cordillera Administrative Region, causing yield reductions of up to 50%. This decline affects both crop value and aesthetic quality. Current pest control methods, including backpack sprayers and broad-spectrum pesticides, are often costly, inefficient, and pose risks to farmers and the environment.
In response, Project ARCHIE offers an innovative solution for crop health management. This autonomous robot inspects lettuce crops for pests and bacterial infections, applying organic insecticide precisely where needed. By employing targeted spraying techniques, Project ARCHIE can reduce pesticide costs by up to 80% and minimize farmers’ exposure to harmful chemicals. This method decreases pesticide residues on crops and mitigates environmental runoff, promoting sustainable farming practices.
ARCHIE is the main product of Greenstacks Inc., a company that develops and integrates software and hardware technologies from a systems perspective, creating impact for our end-users, the community, and the environment. Currently, the company is looking for medium-scale to large-scale vegetable farmers as partner demo farms where ARCHIE’s features will be customized and tested to suit the farm’s needs better.
Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), the success of Project ARCHIE demonstrates the effectiveness of the university model in transforming research-driven solutions into practical commercial applications that address community issues.
