Tree planting is often referred to as one of the hardest jobs in Canada, so two University of Victoria students have sprouted a plan to automate the industry.

Nick Birch and Tyler Rhodes, both electrical engineering students at UVic, built the Tree Rover, a battery-powered platform about the size of a go-kart with a pneumatic planting mechanism on top.

“It essentially punches trees into the ground, taps the earth around them, and moves on to the next site,” said Birch.

The students said they came up with the prototype because they were both raised on Vancouver Island and have a keen interest in the outdoors as well as electronics.

“It kind of made sense to bring those two things together and do something that could help with deforestation around the world,” said Birch.

But being a prototype, the robot can only plant 10 seedlings at a time before it needs to be refilled.

The students hope an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign will change that. In three days, the campaign had already raised more than $2,000 of a $5,000 goal as of Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re hoping to increase its size, increase its terrain navigational capabilities,” Birch said.

On Rhodes’ wishlist: GPS technology and optical avoidance sensors so the Tree Rover “can look out for itself a little more.”

But the association that oversees tree planting in B.C. says while the machine is a great project, it would likely struggle to keep up in rugged backcountry.

“Inside a human head there is more than a dial tone going on,” said John Betts, executive director of the Western Sivicultural Contractors Assocation. “They’re actually looking at the ground, figuring out where the last tree was planted, figuring out where the next one could go, what is the most promising site for that tree – and they’re doing this 10 times a minute in some cases.”

The pair knows the machine won’t be stealing jobs away from tree planters anytime soon, but hope that with more upgrades, the rover could work alongside humans one day.

“As it’s been said before, tree planting is one of the hardest jobs out there,” said Rhodes. “But there’s also a ton of advantages there if you can figure it out.”