Robotics & Automation News

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precision agriculture

John Deere: Harvesting the future – automation, autonomy, and the investor landscape

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Our recent article, Deere unveils new combine harvester with ‘expanded advanced automation’, became one of our most-read pieces in the past few months.

This probably underscores a strong public interest in the intersection between agricultural tradition and cutting-edge technology that is capturing the attention of both farmers and, increasingly, investors.

Deere & Co. (DE), listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), currently trades around $481. As of early May 2025, its market capitalization stands at approximately $130-131 billion. [Read more…] about John Deere: Harvesting the future – automation, autonomy, and the investor landscape

The autonomous future of farm vehicles: Interview with John Deere business manager Jesse Haecker

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This article was first published on December 1, 2022, and is being republished here because of technical problems with the previous version.

John Deere is, by most accounts, the world’s largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery – tractors, combine harvesters and so on. The 185-year-old American giant generated revenues of more than $61 billion in fiscal year 2023. 

The next three companies on the list are, in order, Kubota ($15 billion revenue), CNH Industrial ($11 billion), and AGCO ($9 billion). So Deere is clearly in the lead now, but one of those three companies – CNH Industrial – may be in a good position to grow its market share going forward because it launched a quite striking looking autonomous tractor a couple of years ago.

While CNH’s machine may look too futuristic for most farms, possibly leading people to believe it won’t take off any time soon, John Deere has nonetheless responded to the whole autonomous trend by launching its own driverless tractor (pictured below), which was showcased at the recent CES event. [Read more…] about The autonomous future of farm vehicles: Interview with John Deere business manager Jesse Haecker

Aigen launches new robots for clearing weeds from farm fields

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Aigen, the agricultural technology company aiming to help reduce chemical usage through smarter farming, has unveiled its Element gen2 robot for daily weed control. (See video below.)

The company also announced a strategic partnership with Bowles Farming Company, a sixth-generation family farm in California’s Central Valley, that will see robotic crews weeding Bowles Cotton fields for the 2025 growing season, marking a significant expansion for Aigen into new crop types.

Updated based on 10,000+ hours of real-world farm experience, Element gen2 features a wider, taller design enabling operation in cotton, soy, and sugar beet fields – expanding Aigen’s addressable fields by millions of acres worldwide while helping American farmers increase yields and grow more attractive crops for export. [Read more…] about Aigen launches new robots for clearing weeds from farm fields

Robots for agriculture: Technical advances outpacing market adoption

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A new strawberry-picking robot developed in Japan is drawing global attention for its ability to autonomously harvest strawberries with minimal human intervention.

Designed by researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University, the robot combines 3D cameras, AI, and an autonomous mobility system to navigate greenhouse beds and identify ripe strawberries for harvest.

The developers claim the system can work continuously and be remotely managed via mobile devices, potentially reducing labor dependency in one of Japan’s most labor-intensive crops. [Read more…] about Robots for agriculture: Technical advances outpacing market adoption

FarmWise launches autonomous weeding robot

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San Francisco-based startup FarmWise has started production of its first generation of autonomous weeding robots after successful tests in 2018 and has already secured bookings for 2019.

The company says the robot can help farmers reduce their reliance on chemical weedkillers. (See video below.)

FarmWise says that farmers today are facing the need to use fewer chemical inputs to match current consumer expectations and preserve the integrity of our soil.  [Read more…] about FarmWise launches autonomous weeding robot

Farming lands in the robotic age while humanoid robot makers adopt 3D technology

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In the latest issue of Sensor Readings magazine, we feature the latest and most advanced technologies for what’s being called “precision agriculture”. 

Farming is said to have started around 15,000 years ago and provided the foundation on which human civilizations were built.

As recently as 50 to 100 years ago, most modern nation-states were agrarian, generating the majority of their gross domestic product from the agricultural sector.  [Read more…] about Farming lands in the robotic age while humanoid robot makers adopt 3D technology

Alien farming technology: A glimpse into the future of automated agriculture

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Farming, as a human activity, is thought to be the basis for civilisations and societies dating back 15,000 years, possibly even further back if you believe the ancient alien astronaut theory.

In fact, ancient alien astronauts from the Anunnaki race are thought to have introduced Earthlings to farming in the first place, and gifted humans the plough. But that’s a whole other story.

Whatever its age, farming is still a globally widespread activity today. Indeed, until around 50 years ago, the vast majority of countries around the world were agrarian, meaning their economies and societies were reliant on the income generated by the agricultural sector – not just the food produced by it.

Even today, the largest economy in the world – the US – is also the world’s largest exporter of food.  [Read more…] about Alien farming technology: A glimpse into the future of automated agriculture

Bosch and Bayer working on precision agriculture systems

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Industrial giant Bosch is teaming up with Bayer, one of the world’s largest biotech companies, to develop precision agriculture systems which they say could help improve harvests by 50 per cent. 

Precision agriculture is a term that refers to the increasing use of technologies such as drones, robots, computers and data analytics in farming. These technologies essentially help farmers micro-manage their farms. Other terms used include smart agriculture and even Agriculture 4.0, but they refer to the same thing.

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that farmers around the world will need to increase yields – the volume of crops they harvests – by 50 per cent by 2050 in order to feed the increasing global population.  [Read more…] about Bosch and Bayer working on precision agriculture systems

Deepfield Robotics to showcase precision agriculture technology at Agrilevante

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Deepfield Robotics is preparing to showcase its robotics and automation technologies for the agriculture market at the Agrilevante event, in Italy.  

The company is a startup established by industrial giant Bosch, and has a variety of solutions for the burgeoning precision agriculture market.  [Read more…] about Deepfield Robotics to showcase precision agriculture technology at Agrilevante

University of Illinois presents its TerraSentia farming robot to investors

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Scientists at the University of Illinois, in the US, have presented agricultural robot technology which they say can save significant amounts of time and money in farm labour costs. 

The TerraSentia mobile robot for precision agriculture is being marketed by a startup company called EarthSense, presumably a spin-out from the university.

Developed with support from the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, the TerraSentia costs $5,000.  [Read more…] about University of Illinois presents its TerraSentia farming robot to investors