Virginia Turfgrass Journal - November / December 2023

Page 20

Feature

A Contrarian’s Guide to AUTONOMOUS TURFGRASS ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY By J. Scott McElroy, PhD – Professor, Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences – Auburn University

As

a scientist, I hesitate to make predictions such as those a fortune teller might reveal. I wince when I hear people speaking with absolute certainty that this or that will happen in the future. That some team will win, some politician will lose, or that some event will occur is often pure speculation. Absolute predictions are nonsensical, and an affront to probabilistic thinking. To think probabilistically is to think in terms of the percentage of probability that something will occur. This is the foundation of good science.

The Husqvarna 535 AWD hill climber.

20 | VIRGINIA TURFGRASS JOURNAL November/December 2023 www.vaturf.org


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