Robotics & Automation News

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farming

Future of Agriculture: What Does Automated Vertical Farming Look Like?

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Today, automation is revolutionizing productivity and bringing other benefits across almost all industries. Agriculture is also shifting from manual labor towards a highly automated model where almost no workers are required on site.

Challenges faced by conventional agriculture such as limited water resources and farmland have facilitated the development of high-tech greenhouses and indoor vertical farms.

They, in turn, spurred smart technologies for professional cultivation in controlled environments.

Automated indoor farming makes use of modern technologies such as sensors, big data, vertical farming robotics and AI-powered software to increase yield, reduce costs and minimize environmental impact. [Read more…] about Future of Agriculture: What Does Automated Vertical Farming Look Like?

Carbon Robotics adds LaserThinning capability to its LaserWeeder

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Carbon Robotics, an AI and robotics company specializing in agriculture, has introduced what it says is “the industry’s first LaserThinning capability”, continuing the “rapid innovation” of its LaserWeeder system.

LaserThinning targets areas where vegetable crops are purposefully overseeded and then thinned for optimal crop spacing, growth and yield. This is particularly valuable for farmers growing any direct seeded leafy green and cole crops – such as lettuce and broccoli.

By using lasers for thinning, the new solution does not require the use of any chemicals or manual hand labor, is unaffected by wind or moisture, and can be performed during the day or night. [Read more…] about Carbon Robotics adds LaserThinning capability to its LaserWeeder

Robotics and Automation in Gardening

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Robotics and automation in gardening can be quite challenging. For example, it is possible to increase crop yields while decreasing labor costs. But this requires that robotics be built with sustainability in mind. Read this article to learn about some of the challenges robotics face in agriculture.  [Read more…] about Robotics and Automation in Gardening

Flexiv partners with Tick-Tek to create the farms of the future

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Flexiv, the world’s leading general-purpose robotics company, is proud to announce that it has formed a strategic channel partnership with Singapore-based agritech and factory automation company Tick-Tek.

Focused on designing and manufacturing indoor farming machinery and complete production lines for large and small farms, Tick-Tek provides its clients with revolutionary agricultural technology that enables a complete indoor farming solution to be created.

Part of this revolutionary technology is Flexiv’s Rizon series of adaptive robots. Equipped with seven degrees of freedom, IP65 protection, artificial intelligence, and industry-leading force control, the Rizon 4, 4s, and 10 enable indoor farms to improve their processes and boost productivity. [Read more…] about Flexiv partners with Tick-Tek to create the farms of the future

Yamaha Motor Ventures leads $7.5 million funding round for Verge Ag

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Yamaha Motor Ventures, the strategic business development and investment arm of Yamaha Motor, has led a $7.5 million Series A funding round for Verge Ag, a precision agriculture company.

Verge claims to be the developer of the world’s first AI-powered interactive software that enables farmers to plan, simulate, and validate the movement of equipment in the field and execute field operations efficiently.

Nolan Paul, partner and Global Ag Tech lead for Yamaha Motor Ventures, says: “This investment in Verge Ag underlines our thesis that precision farming technologies are mission critical to a sustainable future for agriculture. [Read more…] about Yamaha Motor Ventures leads $7.5 million funding round for Verge Ag

Verdant Robotics launches multi-action agricultural robot for ‘superhuman farming’

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Verdant Robotics has launched what it says is “the first multi-action autonomous farm robot for specialty crops” which will enable “superhuman farming”.

To meet farmers’ demands for more sustainable and profitable growing practices, Verdant Robotics has expanded its robot-as-a-service (RaaS) model to ensure access for more specialty crop farmers.

Founded in late 2018 by a leading roboticist, a software engineer, and a California farmer, Verdant has raised $21.5 million to develop the industry’s first multi-action, autonomous farm-robot capable of millimeter-accurate spraying, laser weeding, and AI-based digital crop modeling. [Read more…] about Verdant Robotics launches multi-action agricultural robot for ‘superhuman farming’

Automated cow-milking company Lely and AI company Connecterra enter strategic partnership

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Dutch-based startup Connecterra, which used artificial intelligence to deliver insights to farmers, and Lely, a supplier of robotics and management systems for dairy farming, have agreed a “robust co-development and commercial partnership”.

The strategic partnership follows a pilot with Lely’s Digital Farming Group. The pilot program was designed to test an integration between Lely Horizon and Connecterra’s artificial intelligence platform, Ida.

The successful effort has resulted in commitments to several strategic initiatives. As a first step in the agreement, Lely will now license Ida Enterprise for use in their farm management system Lely Horizon. [Read more…] about Automated cow-milking company Lely and AI company Connecterra enter strategic partnership

Fieldin acquires agricultural autonomous driving company Midnight Robotics

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Fieldin, a smart farm operations management company specializing in high-value crops, has acquired Midnight Robotics, a developer of agricultural autonomous driving.

The acquisition creates a “first-of-its-kind combination” of a sensor-based operational farming platform with autonomous driving technologies to empower growers in the day-to-day management of their farms, say the companies.

Fieldin is already applying its combined autonomous farming platform in major farms in California and plans additional implementations of the end-to-end system in the coming months. [Read more…] about Fieldin acquires agricultural autonomous driving company Midnight Robotics

Advanced Farm Technologies completes $25 million Series B funding round

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Advanced Farm Technologies, developers of robotic technology for farmers, has completed a series B investment round raising $25 million to support the company’s growth in strawberry harvesting and the adaptation of its technology to apple harvesting.

The Series B funding round was led by Catapult Ventures and included all the Series A investors Kubota Corporation, Yamaha Motor Corporation, and Impact Ventures.

Kyle Cobb, president, and co-founder of Advanced Farm Technologies, says: “It is gratifying to have the ongoing support and commitment from our early investors in this funding round. It reflects all of our team’s hard work to develop and bring our TX Strawberry Harvester to the market. [Read more…] about Advanced Farm Technologies completes $25 million Series B funding round

Global agriculture robot market expected to quadruple in size by 2026

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The global market for agriculture robots is expected to quadruple in size by 2026, according to a report by Research Dive.

The agriculture robot market size was $4,082.8 million in 2018, and is expected to reach $16,640.4 million by 2026, and will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 19.2 percent.

North America region generated a revenue of $ 1,469.8 million in 2018, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.9 percent. [Read more…] about Global agriculture robot market expected to quadruple in size by 2026