Theo works days, nights, and weekends in the tulip, fields in the Netherlands and never feels tired. How is this possible? Theo is an AI robot that looks fo sick flowers each spring.
The work stops viruses（病毒）from spreading among the plants. The robot looks for troubled tulip bulbs（鳞茎） and kills them if necessary. They are removed （去除） from the healthy ones，in a processing center after the harvest.
There are 45 robots like Theo working in the tulip fields of the Netherlands. Their job becomes important as the winter turns to spring and the busiest season nears. People come from around the world to see the colorful flowers.
This is the second season that Allan Visser has used a robot. He said it is very costly-the same as sports car-about $200, 000. In the past, knowledgeable farmers would walk the fields looking for tulips that showed signs of sickness. "I prefer to have the robot because a sports car doesn't take out thesick tulips from our field, " he said "Yeah, it is expensive, but there are fewer and fewer people who can really see the sick tulips.
Erik de Jong, the manager of the company that makes the robots, said all of the knowledge they use in the computer program comes from tulip farmers—farmers like Theo van der Vourt. He is the farmer after whom the robot is named.
Van der Vourt retired（退休）after 52 years of looking for sick flowers in his fields. ＂It＇s fantastic＂he said, "It sees just as much as I see. "
