AWS and Isaac Sim can help accelerate robotics development, says NVIDIA.

NVIDIA Corp. today announced at AWS re:Invent enhanced tools for robotics developers, as well as the availability of NVIDIA DGX Cloud on Amazon Web Services and offerings for artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

The company said that NVIDIA Isaac Sim is now available on NVIDIA L40S graphics processing units (GPUs) in Amazon Elastic Cloud Computing (EC2) G6e instances. It said this could double scaling robotics simulation and accelerate AI model training. Isaac Sim is a reference application built on NVIDIA Omniverse for developers to simulate and test AI-driven robots in physically based virtual environments.

With NVIDIA OSMO, a cloud-native orchestration platform, developers can easily manage their complex robotics workflows across their AWS computing infrastructure, claimed the company.

“This combination of NVIDIA-accelerated hardware and software — available on the cloud — allows teams of any size to scale their physical AI workflows,” wrote Akhil Docca, senior product marketing manager for Omniverse at NVIDIA.

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What is ‘physical AI?’

According to NVIDIA, “physical AI” describes AI models that can understand and interact with the physical world. The company said it “embodies the next wave of autonomous machines,” such as self-driving cars, industrial manipulators, mobile robots, humanoids, and even robot-run infrastructure like factories and warehouses.

With physical AI, developers are embracing a “three-computer solution” for training, simulation, and inference to make breakthroughs, NVIDIA said. Yet physical AI for robotics systems requires robust training datasets to achieve precision inference in deployment. Developing such datasets and testing them in real situations can be impractical and costly.

Simulation offers an answer, as it can accelerate the training, testing and deployment of AI-driven robots, the company asserted.

L40S GPUs in the cloud offer to scale simulation, training

Developers can use simulation to verify, validate, and optimize robot designs as well as the systems and their algorithms before deployment, said NVIDIA. It added that simulation can optimize facility and system designs before construction or remodeling starts for maximum efficiencies, reducing costly manufacturing change orders.

Amazon EC2 G6e instances accelerated by NVIDIA L40S GPUs can double performance over the prior architecture, while allowing the flexibility to scale as scene and simulation complexity grows, NVIDIA said. Roboticists can use these instances to train many computer vision models that power AI-driven robots.

This means the same instances can be extended for various tasks, from data generation and simulation to model training. NVIDIA added that OSMO allows teams to orchestrate and scale complex robotics development workflows across distributed computing resources, whether on premises or in the AWS cloud.

NVIDIA said Isaac Sim can foster collaboration and critical workflows, such as generating synthetic data for perception model training.

A reference workflow combines NVIDIA Omniverse Replicator, a framework for building custom synthetic data generation (SDG) pipelines and a core extension of Isaac Sim, with NVIDIA NIM microservices. With it, developers can build generative AI-enabled SDG pipelines, it said.

These include the USD Code NIM microservice for generating Python USD code and answering OpenUSD queries, plus the USD Search NIM microservice for exploring OpenUSD assets using natural language or image inputs.

The Edify 360 HDRi NIM microservice can generate 360-degree environment maps, while the Edify 3D NIM microservice can create ready-to-edit 3D assets from text or image prompts. Generative AI can thus ease the synthetic data generation process by reducing many tedious and manual steps, from asset creation to image augmentation, said NVIDIA.

• Rendered.ai’s synthetic data engineering platform is integrated with Omniverse Replicator. It enables companies to generate synthetic data for computer vision models used in industries from security and intelligence to manufacturing and agriculture.
• SoftServe Inc., an IT consulting and digital services provider, uses Isaac Sim to generate synthetic data and validate robots used in vertical farming with Pfeifer & Langen, a leading European food producer.
• Tata Consultancy Services is building custom synthetic data generation pipelines to power its Mobility AI suite to address automotive and autonomous use cases by simulating real-world scenarios. Its applications include defect detection, end-of-line quality inspection, and hazard avoidance.

NVIDIA, AWS help robots learn in simulation

While Isaac Sim enables developers to test and validate robots in physically accurate simulation, Isaac Lab, an open-source robot learning framework built on Isaac Sim, provides a virtual playground for building robot policies that can run on AWS Batch. Because these simulations are repeatable, developers can troubleshoot and reduce the number of cycles required for validation and testing, said NVIDIA.

The company cited robotics startups that are already using Isaac Sim on AWS: 

• Field AI is building robot foundation models to enable robots to autonomously manage a wide range of industrial processes. It uses Isaac Sim and Isaac Lab to evaluate the performance of these models in complex, unstructured environments in construction, manufacturing, oil and gas, mining, and more.
• Vention, which offers a full-stack cloud-based automation platform, is creating pretrained skills to ease development of robotic tasks, noted NVIDIA. It is using Isaac Sim to develop and test new capabilities for robot cells used by small to midsize manufacturers.
• Cobot offers Proxie, its AI-powered collaborative mobile manipulator. It uses Isaac Sim to enable the robot to adapt to dynamic environments, work alongside people, and streamline logistics in warehouses, hospitals, airports, and more.
• Standard Bots is simulating and validating the performance of its R01 robot used in manufacturing and machining setup.
• Swiss-Mile is using Isaac Sim and Isaac Lab for robot learning so that its wheeled quadruped robots can perform tasks autonomously with new levels of efficiency in factories and warehouses.
• Cohesive Robotics has integrated Isaac Sim into its software framework called Argus OS for developing and deploying robotic workcells used in high-mix manufacturing environments.
• Aescape’s robots are able to provide precision-tailored massages by accurately modeling and tuning the onboard sensors in Isaac Sim.

NVIDIA made other announcements in addition to the availability of Isaac Sim 4.2 on Amazon EC2 G6e Instances powered by NVIDIA L40S GPUs on AWS Marketplace.

It said that NVIDIA DGX Cloud can run on AWS for training AI models; that AWS liquid cooling is available for data centers using its Blackwell platform; and that NVIDIA BioNeMo NIM microservices and AI Blueprints, developed to advance drug discovery, are now integrated into AWS HealthOmics.

The company also said its latest AI Blueprints are available on AWS for video search and cybersecurity, the integration of NVIDIA CUDA-Q with Amazon Braket for quantum computing development, and RAPIDS Quick Start Notebooks on Amazon EMR.

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The Husky A300 is designed to be tougher and have longer endurance than the A200. Source: Clearpath Robotics

Developers of robots for indoor or outdoor use have a new platform to build on. In October, Clearpath Robotics Inc. released the Husky A300, the latest version of its flagship mobile robot for research and development. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said it has improved the system’s speed, weather resistance, payload capacity, and runtime.

“Husky A200 has been on the market for over 10 years,” said Robbie Edwards, director of technology at Clearpath Robotics. “We have lots of experience figuring out what people want. We’ve had different configurations, upgrades, batteries and chargers, computers, and motors.”

“We’ve also had different configurations of the internal chassis and ingress protection, as well as custom payloads,” he told The Robot Report. “A lot of that functionality that you had to pay to add on is now stock.”

Husky A300 hardware is rugged, faster

The Husky A300 includes a high-torque drivetrain with four brushless motors that enable speeds of up to 2 m/s (4.4 mph), twice as fast as the previous version. It can carry payloads up to 100 kg (220.4 lb.) and has a runtime of up to 12 hours, said Clearpath Robotics.

The company, which Rockwell Automation acquired last year, noted that the platform can integrate third-party components and accessories including depth cameras, directional lidar, dual-antenna GPS, and manipulators. Husky A300 has an IP54 rating against dust and water and can withstand industrial environments or extreme temperatures outdoors, it said. 

“Before, the Husky was configured on a bespoke basis,” said Edwards. “Now we’re off at a more competitive price, which is great for our customers, and it now comes off our production line instead of our integration line.”

Founded in 2009, the company has tested its hardware and software near its office in a wide range of weather conditions.

Clearpath’s integration with Rockwell has gone smoothly so far, with Rockwell’s procurement team easing access to components and manufacturing, said Edwards. He observed that some of Rockwell’s customers in mining or other industrial automation could find new use cases in time.

The Husky A300 can withstand dust and temperature variances. Source: Clearpath Robotics

Clearpath includes ROS 2 support with A300

Husky A300 ships with Robot Operating System (ROS) 2 Jazzy plus demonstrations of Nav2, MoveIt 2, and other developer utilities.

“Over the past two years, there was a big push to get all Clearpath products to ROS 2 Humble because its configuration management system made life easier for our integration team and customers,” recalled Edwards. “We also provide support for simulation, and URDF [Unified Robot Description Format] is configured.”

Many of Clearpath’s R&D customers were familiar with ROS, C++, and Python, so it offered visualization and simulation tools in addition to the ROS stack, he added. However, as the company got non-expert customers, it wanted to enable them to also work with Husky.

“Academics who aren’t roboticists but want to do data collection can now do so with a simple Python interface, without learning ROS,” Edwards said. “We’ve maintained a level of flexibility with integrating different payloads and compute options while still giving a pretty good price point and usability.”

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Husky AMP a ‘turnkey’ option

Clearpath Robotics is offering a “turnkey” version of the robot dubbed Husky AMP, or autonomous mobile platform. It comes with a sensor suite for navigation, pre-installed and configured OutdoorNav software, a Web-based user interface, and an optional wireless charging dock.

“Robotics developers can easily integrate payloads onto the mounting deck, carry out a simple software integration through the OutdoorNav interface, and get their system working in the field faster and more efficiently,” said Clearpath.

“We’ve lowered the barrier to entry by providing all software function calls and a navigation stack,” Edwards asserted. “The RTK [real-time kinematic positioning] GPS is augmented with sensor fusion, including wheel odometry, and visual and lidar sensors.”

“With a waypoint following system, the robotics stack does the path planning, which is constrained and well-tested,” he said. “Non-roboticists can use Husky A300 as a ground drone.”

More robot enhancements, use cases to come

Clearpath Robotics is considering variant drive trains for the Husky A300, such as tracks for softer terrain as in agriculture, said Edwards.

“Husky is a general-purpose platform,” he said. “We’re serving outdoors developers rather than end users directly, but there’s a lot of demand for larger, high-endurance materials transport.”

For the A300, the company surveyed its client base, which came back with 150 use cases.

“I’ve seen lots of cool stuff — robots herding animals, helping to grow plants, working in mines, participating in the DARPA Subterranean Challenge in fleets of Husky and [Boston Dynamics’] Spot,” Edwards said. “Husky Observer conducts inspections of sites such as solar farms.”

“The benefits for industrial users also help researchers,” he said. “Making the robot cheaper to deploy for faster time to value also means better battery life, weatherproofing, and integrations.”

Edwards added that Clearpath has received a lot of interest in mobile manipulation with its Ridgeback omnidirectional platform.

“This trend is finding its way outdoors as well,” he said. “On the application engineering side, developers have put put two large Universal Robots arms on our Warthog UGV [uncrewed ground vehicle] for things like changing tires.”

The Husky A300 can carry different sensor payloads or robotic arms. Source: Clearpath Robotics

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The VX2 Vision System uses AI for food-grade inspection and picking, says Oxipital AI.

Oxipital AI this month launched its VX2 Vision System, which uses artificial intelligence for inspection and high-speed picking applications across food-grade and industrial sectors. Built on the company’s proprietary Visual AI platform, the VX2 comes in a more compact package at a more accessible price than its predecessor.

“At Oxipital AI, we believe that listening to our customers and learning from real-world applications is the key to driving innovation,” said Austin Harvey, vice president of product at Oxipital. “The VX2 is the result of that philosophy in action. It’s smaller, more powerful, and more versatile, enabling our customers to build more resilient manufacturing processes.”

Formerly Soft Robotics, Oxipital is developing machine vision for product inspection and robotic process automation in critical industries such as food processing, agriculture, and consumer goods production.

The Bedford, Mass.-based company’s stated mission is “to deliver actionable insights through deep object understanding to customers as they embrace Industry 5.0 and unlock previously unachievable levels of resiliency, efficiency, and sustainability in their manufacturing operations.”

Oxipital AI recently launched its VX2 Vision System, which uses artificial intelligence for inspection and high-speed picking applications across food-grade and industrial sectors. Built on the company’s proprietary Visual AI platform, the VX2 comes in a more compact package at a more accessible price than its predecessor.

“At Oxipital AI, we believe that listening to our customers and learning from real-world applications is the key to driving innovation,” said Austin Harvey, vice president of product at Oxipital. “The VX2 is the result of that philosophy in action. It’s smaller, more powerful, and more versatile, enabling our customers to build more resilient manufacturing processes.”

The successor to Soft Robotics, Oxipital is developing machine vision for product inspection and robotic process automation in critical industries such as food processing, agriculture, and consumer goods production.

The Bedford, Mass.-based company’s stated mission is “to deliver actionable insights through deep object understanding to customers as they embrace Industry 5.0 and unlock previously unachievable levels of resiliency, efficiency, and sustainability in their manufacturing operations.”

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VX2 Vision System includes several enhancements

Oxipital AI said the VX2 Vision System represents a significant improvement over its first-generation vision platform. The company said it incorporated customer feedback and extensive field learning to meet the evolving needs of the industry.

The VX2 has enhanced capabilities for inspection, high-speed picking, and high-speed picking with inspection, said Oxipital. It asserted that the system ensures optimal efficiency and precision in a wide variety of environments and listed the following benefits:

Compact and powerful: The VX2 packs more processing power into a smaller, more efficient design, providing greater flexibility for installations in tight spaces or complex environments, said Oxipital.

Versatile application: Designed for food-grade and industrial use, the VX2 excels in inspection tasks, high-speed handling, and combining both, ensuring accuracy and speed in demanding workflows.

Enhanced Visual AI platform: Oxipital said its platform delivers faster, more accurate decision-making capabilities, ensuring high-performance, real-time operations.

Better price point: Despite significant improvements in power and versatility, the VX2 is available at a more competitive price, said the company. This makes it an attractive option for businesses seeking to upgrade their capabilities without incurring significant costs, it added.

Oxipital AI applies vision to industry needs

With the VX2 launch at PACK EXPO this month, Oxipital said the technology demonstrates its commitment to innovations that address the challenges that industry is currently facing.

“Oxipital AI continues to push the boundaries of what is possible with vision systems in automated environments,” it said. Soft Robotics previously made compliant grippers before pivoting to vision AI.

Oxipital has partnered with Schmalz and Velec, and its was nominated as a PACK EXPO Food and Beverage Technology Excellence Award finalist.

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Muddy Machines Ltd. this week said it has acquired the majority of key assets and intellectual property from Fox Robotics Ltd. Farnham, U.K.-based Fox Robotics was a startup focused on the challenges and operations of soft fruit farms.

Fox Robotics is not to be confused with Fox Robotics Inc., an Austin, Texas-based provider of autonomous fork trucks that’s still in operation.

“We are thrilled to integrate Fox Robotics’ innovative vehicle into our lineup,” said Chris Chavasse, CEO of Muddy Machines. “Their technology aligns perfectly with our mission to solve labor challenges in horticulture with electric robots that carry out labor-intensive fieldwork and increase worker productivity.”

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Fox’s Hugo RT is now Squirrel

With its acquisition of Fox, Muddy Machines said it now offers growers a wider selection of autonomous systems. The company will change the name of Fox Robotics’ Hugo RT platform to Squirrel.

Squirrel is a competitor to the field robot of Burro Robotics. This class of mobile robots autonomously transports material from one point to another on the farm.

The newly renamed Squirrel robot has a payload of 200 kg (441 lb.) and a top speed of 3 m/s (6.7 mph). It measures 107 x 63 cm (42.1 x 24.8 in.) and includes an integrated weighing table.

Muddy Machines said it plans to offer more products to meet growers‘ needs for more efficient operations.

The Hugo RT has been renamed Squirrel following the acquisition of Fox Robotics Ltd. | Credit: Muddy Machines

Muddy Machines builds on Sprout

Muddy Machine’s existing robot, Sprout, is a precision agriculture platform for specialty crops grown in open fields. Its initial tool, a selective green asparagus harvester, was successfully trialed earlier this year.

With partners, the Chiswick, U.K.-based company is developing additional tools for precision weeding, planting, and spraying. “This versatility unlocks true precision agriculture and the cultivation of high-value field vegetables,” it said.

It added that Sprout will extend its reach into the berry and fruit sector. Capable of operating both outdoors and in polytunnels, the robot is initially serving as an autonomous carrier for heavy loads. Muddy Machines said Sprout can increase worker productivity and address labor shortages.

“By combining the strengths of Sprout and Squirrel, we’re offering a comprehensive suite of electric robotic solutions that directly tackle the labor challenges faced by the horticulture industry,” added Chavasse. “Our robots are designed to assist farm workers by carrying out labor-intensive tasks, making their jobs easier and more efficient.”

Muddy Machines is currently raising funds to accelerate the delivery of its products to the market.

The Sprout is an autonomous, precision agriculture platform. | Credit: Muddy Machines

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Smart Vision Works’ SiftAI vision system uses AI to sort potato defects and sizes with high accuracy. | Source: Smart Vision Works

Fresh-pack potato processors struggle to find workers for the final inspection of potato sorting and grading. Smart Vision Works last week announced the SiftAI Robotic Sorter, which combines a delta robot with an AI-based vision inspection system to sort potatoes.

Even when potato-sorting sheds can adequately staff, defects still reach customers, and acceptable potatoes are wasted, it said. The Westborough, Mass.-based company said its robotic sorter can automate final inspection, ensuring accurate grading, increasing profits, and allowing managers to redeploy scarce workers to other tasks.

“Because of potato oversupply and rising wages in North America, many potato processors are losing money on every box shipped,” said Curtis Koelling, vice president of product development and innovation at Smart Vision Works.

“Managers are eager to identify technology that can lower their production costs,” he said. “When they see a competitor managing final inspection without labor costs, they become very interested in the technology.”

SiftAI inspects potatoes for defects

Founded in 2012, Smart Vision Works creates AI and machine learning algorithms to reduce the number of images needed to train models. It can then take on challenging machine vision problems and to deliver high-quality solutions for its customers.

KPM Analytics, a global developer of scientific instrumentation, acquired the Orem, Utah-based company in 2023.

The new product includes a vision-based system, AI software, and a proven potato-inspection model including 19 different defects. Installed over a roller table, SiftAI uses its cameras to collect images of all sides of the potato.

Each system is programmed with AI models for overall potato size and shape or the presence of defects like bruises, cracks, percent green, and other cosmetic features.

Smart Vision Works develops rapid sortation

For any potatoes that grade outside the AI model’s acceptance criteria, SiftAI triggers the robotic arm to pick up and remove the potato from the product stream at rates of 80 to 100 picks per minute with two-robot system configurations.

The SiftAI Robotic Sorter inspects potatoes with the same dexterity and speed as a human inspector but with much higher accuracy, increasing profitability and reducing customer chargebacks, claimed Smart Vision Works. Currently, the industry goal is to have no more than 5% of defective potatoes reaching customers, which is the limit set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Human inspectors typically discard 10% to 20% of acceptable potatoes, reducing profits. In beta testing, the new AI-enabled robotic sorter dramatically reduced the percentage of missed defects and misgraded potatoes. Adding increased profitability to the labor savings, Smart Vision Works said the financial impact of this system is significant.

The investment pays for itself in fewer than two years, said the company. It asserted that the system’s high accuracy is possible because its technology is not like the basic AI commonly used by other vision inspection systems.

Instead, SiftAI is built on 12 years of development by AI scientists and years of experience in the potato industry. Unlike systems that use optical scanners, the system takes a full digital image and runs it through a neural network, said Smart Vision Works.

The SIftAI Robotic Sorter is available for order now.

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ANELLO offers an evaluation kit for its navigation and positioning system. Source: ANELLO Photonics

Self-driving vehicles, mobile robots, and drones need multiple sensors for safe and reliable operation, but the cost and bulk of those sensors have posed challenges for developers and manufacturers. ANELLO Photonics Inc. yesterday said it has closed its Series B funding round for its SiPhOG inertial navigation system, or INS.

“This investment not only validates our SiPhOG technology and products in the marketplace, but will [also] allow us to accelerate our manufacturing and product development as we continue to push the boundaries and leadership for navigation capabilities and performance to our customers who want solutions for GPS-denied environments,” stated Dr. Mario Paniccia, co-founder and CEO of ANELLO Photonics.

Founded in 2018, ANELLO has developed SiPhOG — Silicon Photonics Optical Gyroscope — based on integrated photonic system-on-chip (SoC) technology. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said it has more than 28 patents, with 44 pending. Its technologies also include a sensor-fusion engine using artificial intelligence.

“I spent 22 years at Intel and started this field of silicon photonics, which is the idea of building optical devices out of standard silicon processing, mostly focused on the data center,” recalled Paniccia. “Mike Horton, my co-founder, was a sensor gyro expert who started a company called Crossbow coming out of UC Berkeley.”

“Everyone doing autonomy was saying lidar and radar, but customers told Mike that if we could build an integrated photonic chip, they’d be very interested,” he told The Robot Report. “If you look at fiber gyros, they work great but are big, bulky, and expensive.”

“The stuff on our phones are MEMS [micro-electromechanical systems]-based today, which is not very accurate and is very sensitive to temperature, vibration, and EM interference,” Paniccia explained. “With the the same concept as a fiber gyro — the idea of light going around a coil, and you measure the phase based on rotation — we integrated all those components on a single chip, added a little laser, and put electronics around it, and you now get SiPhOG, which fits in the palm of your hand.”

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SiPhOG combines compactness and precision

SiPhOG brings high-precision into an integrated silicon photonics platform, claimed ANELLO. It is based on the interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope (FOG) but is designed for compactness, said Paniccia.

“It’s literally 2 by 5 mm,” he said. “On that chip, we have all the components — the splitters, the couplers, the phase modulators, and the delay lines. We measure about 50 nano-radians of signal, so a tiny, tiny signal, but we measure it very accurately.”

The system also has a non-ASIC, two-sided electronics board with an analog lock-in amplifier, a temperature controller, and an isolator, Paniccia said. It has none of the drawbacks of MEMS and uses 3.3 volts, he added.

Paniccia said the SiPhOG unit includes an optical gyro, triple-redundant MEMS, accelerometers, and magnetometers. It also has two GPS chips and dual antennas and is sealed to be waterproof.

The ANELLO IMU+ is designed for harsh environments including in construction, robotics, mining, trucking, and defense. Source: ANELLO

Navigation system ready for multiple markets

Autonomous systems can work with ANELLO’s technology and the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) for navigation, positioning, and motion tracking for a range of applications, said the company.

“We’re shipping to customers now in orchards, where the leaves come in, and the water in them essentially acts like a tunnel, absorbing GPS,” Paniccia said. “Our algorithm says, ‘I’m losing GPS, so weigh the navigation algorithm more to the optical gyro.’ You want the robot to stay within a tenth of a meter across a distance of half a mile. Long-distance, we’re looking at 100 km of driving without GPS with less than 100-m lateral error.”

In addition, SiPhOG is built for scalability and cost-effectiveness.

“VC friends tell me that automakers are putting six lidar systems on a car, and each one is $10,000 each. It’s never going to get to mass market,” Paniccia said. “We have an optical technology for land, air, and sea. And whether that land vehicle is for agriculture or construction, or in the longer term, trucking or autonomous cars, we can do it.”

“You can literally tape SiPhOG to a dashboard and plug it into the cigarette lighter,” he said. “We have self-alignment correction, and within 15 minutes, you can have GPS-denied navigation capability. We’re also shipping this system for indoor robots like in construction.”

“If I put three SiPhOGs in a cube, I can have the same performance but at one-fifth the size and weight and a quarter of the power for precision in three dimensions,” said Paniccia. “That’s exciting for drones and maritime.”

Investors to accelerate ANELLO 

Lockheed Martin, Catapult Ventures, and One Madison Group co-led ANELLO’s unspecified Series B round. New Legacy, Build Collective, Trousdale Ventures, In-Q-Tel (IQT), K2 Access Fund, Purdue Strategic Ventures, Santuri Ventures, Handshake Ventures, Irongate Capital, and Mana Ventures also participated. 

“We’re committed to fostering the art of the possible with investments in cutting edge technologies, including advancements in inertial navigation that have the potential to enhance autonomous operations in GPS-denied environments,” said Chris Moran, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures. “Our continued investment in ANELLO reflects our mission to accelerate technologies that can ultimately benefit national security.”

ANELLO said it plans to use its latest funding to continue developing and deploying its technology. The company has worked with the U.S. Department of Defense to optimize its algorithms against jamming or spoofing.

“Every week, there’s an article about a commercial flight or defense-related mission getting GPS jammed, like thousands of flights to and from Europe affected by suspected Russian jamming,” noted Tony Fadell, founder of Nest and a principal at investor Build Collective. “GPS has become a single point of failure because it’s too easily compromised with various jamming and spoofing techniques.”

“ANELLO’s proven and commercially available optical gyroscope is the only navigational tool that can take over, [offering] precision over long periods of time, the size of a golf ball, low-power, low-cost, that’s immune to shock and vibration,” he added. “ANELLO will save lives in the air, on the road, and over water.”

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Fieldwork and Augean have developed a base-agnostic raspberry-harvesting payload, shown here on a Burro. Source: Fieldwork Robotics

Like other industries, raspberry growers face growing labor challenges. Fieldwork Robotics Ltd. today announced that it has signed a collaboration agreement with Augean Robotics Inc., manufacturer of the Burro autonomous and collaborative mobile robot.

Fieldwork Robotics is developing an autonomous raspberry-harvesting robot. The Cambridge, U.K.-based company said it has designed the adaptive and modular system to harvest at the same quality as the average fruit picker and to boost grower productivity.

Fieldwork added that it is combining cutting-edge hardware and software to provide growers with efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable harvesting solutions. It noted that it has strong commercial partnerships with key raspberry industry players in its target markets to support product development.

“Burro is the perfect partner for Fieldwork as we continue to develop our product offering,” stated David Fulton, CEO of Fieldwork Robotics. “The team’s expertise in autonomous agricultural robots has been an invaluable addition as we continue to develop. This collaboration is a significant milestone for us, and we look forward to delivering an enhanced service to our customers.”

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Growers face labor, interoperability challenges

As labor costs grow because of minimum wage increases and the availability of seasonal workers is limited, raspberry growers have been particularly affected, according to Fieldwork Robotics. Farmers are increasingly looking to innovative technologies to address these challenges, it said.

However, even when growers are interested in integrating robotics into their harvesting practices, they face problems with initial cost of equipment and lack of compatibility between different technologies, Fieldwork said. It asserted that systems need to be interoperable to ensure that farmers can integrate robots into their operations in a cost-effective way.

In response, the partners have created and demonstrated a base-agnostic payload that can run on autonomous platforms including Burro. Fieldwork and Burro said Fieldworker 1 is also compatible with brands such as OxDrive, which makes integrated electric drives.

“Interoperability of technology is a huge advantage to growers and will afford Fieldwork’s customers greater flexibility and lower operating costs,” said Fieldwork.

Fieldwork and Burro partnership bears fruit

“Fieldwork has recently released its updated autonomous raspberry-harvesting robot, which has benefitted from Burro’s expertise,” said Fulton. “A collaboration with an excellent partner like Burro serves to significantly strengthen our first-mover advantage.”

The Burro robot incorporates machine learning, high-precision GPS and “Pop-Up Autonomy” to transport produce across fields. Like Fieldwork, the company‘s technology is designed to enhance agricultural work and address labor shortages.

The Fieldworker 1, run on Burro’s base, has successfully completed field trials at Place UK Ltd., a grower of Driscoll’s berries. The robot is currently on track to participate in field trials with leading berry grower Costa Group‘s Australian farms in 2025.

“Seeing Fieldwork’s technology operating in the field has been fascinating,” said Dan Yordanov, head of fresh at Place UK. “We were very pleased to work with David and the team to test the Fieldworker 1 at Place UK, and we are confident that it will be an invaluable harvesting solution to growers in the future.”

Burro recently raised $24 million in Series B funding. Last month, Burro exhibited at RoboBusiness, and Andersen participated in a session on the challenges of building outdoor robots. Fieldwork said the company‘s success in Fieldwork’s target markets make it a suitable partner.

“Fieldwork’s technology is truly world-class. It has been a pleasure to work with David and the team as they developed their technology,” said Charlie Andersen, CEO of Burro. “Our combined expertise in robotics and automation facilitated an interactive and highly effective partnership. We’re excited to see where our partnership with the company takes us next, and our customers are hugely excited about their solution to autonomous harvesting!”

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Field robotics is redefining industries with technologies that perform complex tasks in unstructured and often dynamic environments – out of the warehouse, facing the weather, and potentially working alongside the public.

Field robotics OEMs are tirelessly innovating solutions to address skilled labor gaps and improve efficiency and safety in a wide range of industries including; agriculture, mining, construction, and search and rescue.

Join the Celera Motion team on December 5, 2024 at 12 PM Eastern for a journey into the enduring the elements in extreme robotics where we can help you tackle the toughest of the tough conditions with precision and reliability including:

• Resistance to elements in extreme environments
• Precise measurements in challenging settings
• Reduced maintenance and downtime

Attendees can register for free here. In this webinar, you will:

• Learn how field robotics is transforming various industries by enabling complex operations in challenging and unpredictable environments
• Discover cutting-edge advancements made by field robotic OEMs to combat skilled labor shortages and improve operational efficiency across various sectors
• Learn how field robots endure harsh conditions, ensure data precision, and minimize downtime for reliable operations
• Explore Celera Motion’s innovative inductive encoders, critical for accurate measurement feedback, precision control, and reduced operational disruptions in extreme robotic applications

The webinar airs live at 12:00 PM Eastern on Thursday, December 5, 2024. Attendees can have their questions answered live, and the recording will be available on demand after the initial broadcast. Register now.

Meet the speakers

Jake Lantner – Application Engineer, Robotics & Automation, Novanta
Jake Lantner serves as the Application Engineer for Encoder Technologies within Novanta’s Robotics and Automation Division. With two years in this role, he specializes in integrating components for unique and demanding applications. Jake holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire. In his free time, he enjoys motorsports, mountain biking, and snowboarding.

Steve Crowe – Executive Editor, The Robot Report
Steve Crowe is Executive Editor of The Robot Report and chair of the Robotics Summit & Expo and RoboBusiness. He is also co-host of The Robot Report Podcast, the top-rated podcast for the robotics industry. He joined WTWH Media in January 2018 after spending four-plus years as Managing Editor of Robotics Trends Media. He can be reached at scrowe@wtwhmedia.com

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Organization: Gardarika Tres
Country: Ukraine
Website: https://efarm.pro/demining_ukraine/
Year Founded: 2014
Number of Employees: 11-20
Innovation Class: Application & Market

Ukraine-based Gardarika Tres LLC is a manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment that focuses on precision farming systems and was founded in 2014. The company started an autonomous tractor navigation brand called Efarm.pro in 2023.

At the end of January 2023, according to reports, about 250,000 sq. km (61.7 million sq. acres) of Ukrainian agricultural land had become minefields.

These explosive devices must be cleared from the fields. However, there is a lack of trained personnel and appropriate equipment to do the job. Accelerating the demining process will provide an opportunity to quickly restore the country’s economy, industry, and agrarian entrepreneurship, and save people’s lives.

The Efarm.pro brand developed an unmanned system to remove mines from fields. The system includes a drone, an autonomous tractor, and a demining attachment that can withstand explosions. The demining tractor is driven remotely from a safe distance to ensure there are no humans in harm’s way.

The system scans the field with a drone equipped with appropriate sensors to target demining areas. These areas are subsequently defused by running the autonomous tractors together with certified sappers. The innovation here is the use of a mature autonomous navigation system for tractors with a hardened mine sweeper to explosively remove any mines within a field and return it to productive growing for farmers.

The tractor is equipped with additional armor plates, designed for use in vehicle structures for mine protection and improvised explosive devices. This ensures that it can work its way through the field without the need to stop and repair after a mine is set off.

Explore the RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards 2024.

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RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards 2024

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In Episode 169 of The Robot Report Podcast, co-hosts Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman recap the 2024 FIRA event with several interviews from vendors attending the show.

In this week’s featured interview, editor Eugene Demaitre speaks with Dr. Russ Tedrake, vice president of robotics research at Toyota Research Institute (TRI), and Scott Kuindersma, director of robotics research at Boston Dynamics. They discuss their collaboration on humanoid robotics and the integration of artificial intelligence through large behavior models.

The researchers also explore the challenges and opportunities in developing general-purpose robots, the importance of human involvement in learning processes, and the role of data in enhancing robot capabilities. In addition, the discussion touches on practical applications, deployment strategies, and the significance of rigorous research in advancing robotics technology.

Show timeline

• 6:30 – Advanced Farm Interview
• 15:52 – Reservoir Farms Interview
• 24:27 – Twisted Fields/Rotate8 Interview
• 31:58 – Bluewhite Interview
• 43:02 – Featured interview with Russ Tedrake of TRI and Scott Kuindersma of Boston Dynamics
  

FIRA 2024 recap

Oitzman attended the 2025 FIRA event for agricultural robotics in Woodland, Calif. It featured outdoor demonstrations in a specially cultivated field in the parking lot of the Yolo County fairgrounds.

The new Amiga-Max mobile robotic platform from Farm-ng. | Credit: The Robot Report

On the show’s first night, Advanced Farm Technologies hosted an apple harvester demo at its headquarters in Davis, Calif.

For the past two decades, apple growers have begun planting new orchards similar to vineyards, using a trellis planting method. The trees are planted closer together, and then all of the branches are trained into a 2D trellis form, where the trees are only about a 1 ft. wide by 4 ft. long by 15 ft. tall.

This creates a “flat canyon” between rows easier to drive down and the fruit gets more sunlight. It’s also perfect for automation like the Advanced Farm robots. The Advanced Farm test trellis uses 3D-printed apples on magnets attached to fake trees, but it works well for simulating an actual orchard. The podcast features an interview with Advanced Farms CEO Kyle Cobb.

Advanced Farms is testing its autonomous apple-picking robot in Washington this fall. | Credit: Mike Oitzman, The Robot Report

Reservoir Farms announced a new agtech incubator that will open in the first half of 2025 with two sites, one in Salinas and the other in the Central Valley. It provides a maker space for building, with shared machine tools plus secure storage onsite in the form of a storage container. Each site will also feature onsite cultivated fields for testing of the robots.

The company will plant whatever crop is key to the startups onsite. It is also developing partnerships with UC Merced and other local colleges and universities to provide facilities for senior projects or research labs on campus access to fields. The podcast features an interview with Reservoir Farms CEO Danny Bernstein.

At FIRA, we ran into friend of the show Daniel Theobald. He was at the expo with his Twisted Fields farm, which is also an agtech incubator. On display was a prototype robot being developed at Twisted Farms by the new company Rotate8. I met CEO Katie Bradford to learn more about the new venture. The company will be launching officially in early 2025.

Finally, we caught up with Bluewhite‘s CEO Ben Alfi, to learn more about a new partnership with CNH tractors. Bluewhite has completely productized its automation package to retrofit CNH tractors with full autonomy, and it is now training CNH local distributors to perform the retrofits in the fields or equip a brand new CNH tractor as it’s sold.

The result is that Bluewhite should begin to see full-scale deployments anywhere around the world where CNH tractors are being sold and supported.

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Agtonomy hopes its technology can solve agriculture’s most immediate and pressing problems including labor scarcity, climate change, and shrinking profit margins. | Source: Agtonomy

Agtonomy recently raised an additional $10 million to close its Series A round, bringing total funding to $32.8 million. The South San Francisco-based company said this investment, combined with its commercial offerings and business model, positions it for accelerated growth and market expansion over the next few years.

Agtonomy creates retrofit kits to make average farm equipment autonomous. Its autonomous systems cover a variety of tasks, including mowing, spraying, weeding, and transport. The company said its sensor suite enables the system to perceive its surroundings day and night.

Founded by farmers, Agtonomy said it provides software, services, and technology to provide autonomy to partners in the equipment value chain for rapid commercialization. The company claimed that by embedding its intelligence into brand-name tractors and implements, it can digitally transform machinery into a remote-operated, task-driven ecosystem for safe, equitable, profitable, and climate-smart agriculture.

Agtonomy addresses agriculture challenges

Agtonomy said its latest funding will advance its mission to address labor, profitability, and climate-change challenges. The developer of AI-enabled automation software for agriculture and land maintenance aims to do this through “advanced automation for industrial equipment fleet management.”

Its retrofit kits include on-board computing, an energy module to enable around-the-clock operation, support different implements, and TrunkVision, which enables tractors to navigate within centimeter-level precision of specialty crops. Agtonomy said its technology can tackle almost any task with 120 HP peak and 54 HP continuous.

The company also noted that its technology allows operators to control their equipment remotely as well as autonomously.

To help farmers understand their equipment’s output, Agtonomy also offers the TeleFarmer app, which puts useful information into one interface. With the app, farmers can assign tasks, set missions, and manage their fields.

While the tractor is at work, a farmer can also use TeleFarmer to monitor its progress, track equipment health, and receive notifications. Once the task is completed, the app provides performance reports so farmers can optimize operations in the future.

Mobile automation gets funding fuel

Autotech Ventures, a mobility venture fund, led the round. New investors included Rethink Food, Allison Transmission, and Black Forest Ventures. Existing backers Toyota Ventures, Flybridge, and Cavallo Partners continued their support.

“Agtonomy’s innovative approach aligns with our mission to revolutionize mobility and automation across various sectors, starting with off-road autonomy,” stated Alexei Andreev, founding partner of Autotech Ventures.

“Their unique business model, which combines software expertise with established OEM partnerships, positions them to lead the transformation to autonomous fleet management,” he added. “We look forward to supporting Agtonomy’s experienced team as they address critical labor shortages and sustainability challenges in these industries.”

Agtonomy’s immediate growth plans include scaling its West Coast technical team into new markets, expanding its 2025 paid pilot program for permanent crops by 500%, and developing technology solutions for other industrial markets that seek world-class automation to improve margins.

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Agtonomy board of directors grows

Sterling Anderson will join Agtonomy’s board of directors. He led the team that created the original Tesla Autopilot and who is co-founder and chief product officer of on-road autonomy developer Aurora.

“Agriculture is a vast and essential element of the human experience. Autonomy can make it better,” said Anderson. “I’ve been impressed with Agtonomy’s approach, focus, and execution to date and look forward to advising them on this important journey.”

In addition, in May, Agtonomy announced that Jorge Heraud, formerly John Deere’s vice president of automation and autonomy, joined the board, which includes both co-founders Tim Bucher and Valerie Syme, as well as Jim Meyer, former SiriusXM CEO and current vice chair.

“By bringing together some of the most impactful technology leaders, our Board is enabling additional firepower in corporate strategy and governance to bring Agtonomy to its full potential,” said Syme, co-founder and chief operating officer of Agtonomy.

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The FD20 uses high-precision RTK GPS to mark the position of each plant at seeding and can perform both inter-row and intra-row weed control. | Source: FarmDroid

Farmers today face challenges including the need to reduce chemical inputs, decrease reliance on manual labour, and cut operational costs, noted FarmDroid ApS. The company, which is developing a solar-powered, autonomous robot, this week said it has secured a €10.5 million investment, around $11.37 million.

“We are incredibly proud to have closed this investment, which will strengthen FarmDroid’s position and provide opportunities to develop and expand the use of agricultural robots,” stated René Jannick Jørgensen, CEO of FarmDroid. “This investment contributes both with competencies and financial resources dedicated to scaling the business, increasing our impact, and promoting sustainable and economically attractive solutions for agriculture.” 

Jens Vest Warming started FarmDroid after spending time hand-weeding sugar beets on his family’s farm. He learned firsthand how much manual work goes into this process and set out to find a way to automate it. Warming eventually teamed up with his brother, Kristian Warming, to co-found the Vejen, Denmark-based company in 2018.

FD20 addresses multiple tasks

FarmDroid said it has developed a versatile, easy-to-operate, lightweight, and affordable robot to address agricultural challenges. The modular FarmDroid FD20 can sow, remove weeds, and reduce pesticide usage with a new micro-spray system. The company added that its system can operate continuously in the field, powered by solar energy.

With mechanical weeding, FarmDroid said it can reduce the use of certain pesticides by up to 100% compared with conventional methods. It claimed that its system promotes sustainability while preserving soil health and reducing operational expenses. 

The company partners with distributors to bring its advanced weeding and seeding robots to farmers globally. FarmDroid said it currently has more than 500 customers.

The FD20 robot with micro sprayer implement in a sugar beet field. Source: FarmDroid

FarmDroid hopes to extend beyond organic farming

Convent Capital led FarmDroid’s funding round. The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) and Navus Ventures also participated, providing a total of nearly DKK 80 million ($11.5 million U.S.).

“We see FarmDroid as a frontrunner in robotization of arable farming, enabling more sustainable and long-term productive practices,” said Eduard Meijer, managing director at Navus Ventures.

“Their pragmatic and farmer-oriented technology has been tested in the field for years as they established an impressive customer base,” he added. “We are looking forward to our collaboration and see a strong match with our background in the automation and robotization of agriculture.”

Having proven it systems’ effectiveness primarily on organic farms, FarmDroid said its recently introduced spot-spraying application allows it to expand to conventional open-field farming.

“In the process, it has been important for us to find the right partners who understand the DNA of FarmDroid, share our vision, and want to join us on the journey ahead,” said Jens and Kristian Warming, the founders of FarmDroid. “With Convent Capital, Navus Ventures, and EIFO on board, while we as founders remain the primary owners, we are geared for the next steps on the journey. We have surpassed 500 robots – now the next milestone is 1,000.”

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Reservoir Farms will provide test fields, assembly workshops, tools, and storage for startups. | Credit: The Reservoir

The Reservoir, a nonprofit that builds tech incubators in California, is launching an on-farm robotics incubator called Reservoir Farms. Set to open in the Central and Salinas Valleys in Q1 2025, Reservoir Farms will provide a unique combination of resources to help agrobotics startups.

The concept for Reservoir Farms is simple: provide a place for agrobotics startups to quickly build and test their ideas. Companies who join the incubator will have access to their own secure storage sheds, along with a fully equipped maker space that will include machine tools, welders, CNC routers, and 3D printers to enable them to quickly prototype new ideas. Located on each campus will be test fields that will be cultivated year-round to provide in-field testing of the robots.

One of the struggles for any agtech startup is developing a partnership with a grower or farmer willing to test the new equipment. Some startups have a family connection to farming, and having access to system testing is key to early validation and input for design changes.

“The launch of Reservoir Farms is a critical step forward in ensuring the future resilience of California’s agriculture and across the Central Coast and Central Valley,” said Danny Bernstein, CEO of the Reservoir and managing partner of HawkTower. “By placing incubators directly on the farm, we enable innovators to test, iterate, and scale solutions in real-world conditions as a more immediate path to advance farming communities.”

Initial projects at the incubators will focus on early-stage agricultural innovations in automation and robotics, including rovers and drones, that accelerate the development of breakthrough solutions to the opportunities and imperatives faced by California farms producing high-value specialty crops, such as labor shortages, profitability, and adopting climate-smart technologies.

Key industry sponsorship

Western Growers Association, a key advocate for advancing agricultural innovation, will provide financial and operational support as an anchor partner. Educational partners like UC ANR, Hartnell College, and Merced College will play a role in workforce development, preparing the next generation of agricultural researchers and professionals to drive the future of farming in California. HawkTower, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage startups developing solutions for California’s environmental and industrial imperatives, is also an anchor partner.

“Our goal is to eliminate the friction points that have historically slowed down the development of new agtech solutions,” said Walt Duflock, Senior Vice President of Innovation at Western Growers Association. “Reservoir Farms offers a new model, where startups can work side-by-side with growers to test their technologies, iterate in a low-stakes environment, and build scalable solutions to improve agriculture’s operations.”

A new model to incubate agtech innovation

The idea for Reservoir Farms emerged from industry research and consultations with over 50 organizations in the specialty crop sector. Key insights uncovered critical gaps in startups’ access to real-world testing environments, shop space, and direct relationships with growers—factors that severely hindered capital efficiency and posed a formidable barrier to innovation.

“As robotics and automation become more integral to California agriculture, it’s essential to have facilities like Reservoir Farms embedded within the farming community,” said Gabriel Youtsey, chief innovation officer at UC ANR. “By bridging the gap between lab-based research and real-world application and accelerating tech transfer, Reservoir Farms can help build the workforce and technology needed to address the critical challenges on the farm, from labor shortages to climate change.”

Located in the heart of California specialty cropland

Reservoir Farms will open its first two locations in Salinas Valley and Merced in the first quarter of 2025. Participants can lease testing fields and shop space without the burden of multi-year leases, giving them the flexibility needed to scale. The incubators will offer fully equipped R&D workshops, secure storage for expensive equipment, and customized, pre-planted specialty crop fields for testing. These facilities will be complemented by Reservoir Farms’ co-working spaces, meeting rooms, and a robust demo day schedule designed to connect startups with growers, investors, and other key stakeholders.

In addition, the Western Growers Association’s validation process will provide startups with a quantitative “scorecard” that offers crucial metrics on scalability, efficacy, and financial viability. This validation, combined with UC ANR’s field testing, will help startups refine their products and receive a critical stamp of approval that builds trust with growers and ensures a smoother path to commercialization.

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The new See3CAM_CU83 4K RGB-IR camera can be used in precision agriculture and surgery. Source: e-con Systems.

e-con Systems Inc. last week launched its latest camera, the See3CAM_CU83, a 4K superspeed USB Camera featuring onsemi’s AR0830 sensor. The latest See3CAM, an RGB-IR camera, promises performance for a wide range of applications, including biometric access control, in-cabin monitoring, crop health monitoring, image-guided surgeries, and smart patient monitoring, said the company.

“See3CAM_CU83 represents a significant milestone in our product lineup,” stated said Prabu Kumar, head of the Camera Solutions Unit at e-con Systems. “With over 20 years of experience in embedded vision, e-con Systems has generated multiple patents.”

“This camera uses e-con’s own proprietary algorithm that processes RGB-IR frames from the single sensor into separate RGB and IR frames,” he added. “The camera’s ability to capture both visible and infrared light at the same time with a dual band-pass optical system also allows it to operate seamlessly in both day and night modes across a wide range of vision applications.”

e-con’s product portfolio includes ToF (time-of-flight) cameras, MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) camera modules, GMSL (Gigabit Multimedia Serial Link) cameras, USB 3.1 Gen 1 cameras, stereo cameras, GigE cameras, and low-light cameras. The Riverside, Calif.-based company last month also demonstrated its 3MP and 5MP global shutter cameras for basketball posture analysis and precision agriculture, respectively.

See3CAM_CU83 eliminates sensors, filters

“See3CAM_CU83 sets a new standard in the industry with its ability to simultaneously stream RGB-IR frames, capturing high-quality 4K images in both visible and IR lighting conditions,” said e-con Systems.

By separating visual light and infrared frames, the new camera eliminates the need for separate RGB and IR sensors, the embedded vision provider claimed. It can deliver clear, precise images with low latency and is a cost-effective system, e-con asserted.

The camera’s reliability is further enhanced by the absence of mechanical switch filters, it added. e-con said its expertise in image signal processing (ISP) fine-tuning enables See3CAM to deliver high-resolution images.

“By integrating our AR0830 sensor into their 4K RGB-IR superspeed USB camera, See3CAM_CU83, and combining it with their RGB-IR separation algorithm, e-con Systems delivers a composite camera system that now can be extensively deployed in both visible and NIR spectrums,” said Steve Harris, senior director of marketing in onsemi‘s Industrial and Commercial Sensing Division. “This combination enables superior performance and color accuracy across a wide range of embedded vision applications.”

e-con Systems addresses vision pain points across industries

e-con Systems said the See3CAM_CU83 addresses pain points of embedded vision applications across multiple industries:

• Biometric access control: RGB-IR can enhance biometric accuracy, distinguishing between live persons and spoofing attempts, said the company. This promises to improve security for facility entry, attendance systems, and high-security environments.
• In-cabin monitoring: RGB-IR functionality maintains clear video in varying light conditions for driver or passenger monitoring, explained e-con. 4K resolution enhances detail for advanced computer vision techniques, enabling drowsiness detection and cabin occupancy tracking. In addition, the wake-on-motion feature of the camera ensures rapid response of the camera along with power efficiency, it said.
• Crop health monitoring: Dual RGB and IR imagery can capture near-infrared spectral data, revealing crop health indicators like chlorophyll content and water status. This can help detect crop distress, diseases, or pest infestations for targeted interventions.
• Image-guided surgeries: IR imaging functionality can provide surgeons with additional visual cues and information beyond what is available in the visible spectrum alone. For example, IR imaging can help differentiate between healthy and diseased tissue, enhance visualization of blood vessels, or aid in tumor identification during precision surgeries.
• Smart patient monitoring: The latest See3CAM captures both visible and infrared light, ensuring clear images even in low-light conditions and enhancing the accuracy of patient monitoring applications. This helps with early detection of critical changes in health status, according to e-con.

See3CAM is now availabile

e-con Systems said that its expertise in OEM innovation and the new camera’s advanced features stand out in a competitive landscape. “See3CAM_CU83 is also the only RGB-IR camera with 4K resolution available in the market,” the company claimed.

e-con also offers customization services and integration support for the See3CAM meet the requirements of unique applications. For customization or integration support, contact the company at camerasolutions@e-consystems.com.

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Capable of covering up to 5 acres per hour, the Sharpshooter’s lightweight construction allows for operations in challenging conditions such as damp fields. | Credit: Verdant Robotics

Verdant Robotics yesterday unveiled the 2025 Sharpshooter and will debut the robotic weed killer this week at FIRA 2024 in Woodland, Calif. As a smart implement, the Sharpshooter attaches to a tractor and can spray up to 5 acres per hour, day or night. It uses artificial intelligence to target weeds while avoiding crop plants.

Early Sharpshooter customers are experiencing significant savings, cutting chemical inputs by up to 96% and reducing hand-weeding costs by an average of 65%, claimed the company. These efficiencies enable growers to achieve a rapid return on investment, typically within 12 to 24 months, it said.

Hayward, Calif.-based Verdant closed its $46.6 million Series A funding round in 2022.

AI-powered machine vision targets weeds

The Sharpshooter system uses Bullseye Aim & Apply Technology, Verdant Robotics’ proprietary Spatial AI, machine learning, and aiming-nozzle technology. The AI model can distinguish crop plants from weeds and then deliver millimeter-level accuracy for chemical application.

The system sprays plant targets ranging from the size of a dime to that of a dinner plate at a rate of 120 to 480 shots per second. Ninety-nine percent of shots land within 5 mm (0.1 in.) of the target, while efficiently covering up to 5 acres (2 hectares) per hour, said the company.

“At Verdant, our mission is to provide growers with significant value through the application of cutting-edge technology,” said Gabe Sibley, CEO of Verdant Robotics. “The Sharpshooter is the culmination of years of research, field testing, and invaluable grower feedback. It delivers unmatched speed, efficiency, and versatility, giving growers the savings, precision, and control they need.”

Sharpshooter targets and eliminates weeds of all sizes without slowing down. | Credit: Verdant Robotics

Sharpshooter is designed for precision

Verdant Robotics listed the following features of Sharpshooter:

• Fast and lightweight design: The Sharpshooter’s lightweight construction allows for swift, agile operation even in challenging conditions—such as damp fields—boosting efficiency while minimizing soil compaction.
• Optimized for high-density crops: Designed to handle both low- and high-density planting systems, the system can easily navigate crops like lettuce and carrots, said Verdant. Bullseye Aim & Apply ensures comprehensive weed control, thinning, and targeted application, even in tightly planted configurations.
• Weed control for all sizes: The Sharpshooter targets and eliminates weeds of all sizes—from cotyledons to mature weeds—without slowing down. This capability ensures full coverage across the field and extends the operational window for growers.
• Precision control suite: Across many crops and conditions growers have full control of advanced features such as Crop Band Zone detection, 3D Crop Shield, Plant-line Detection, Adaptive Spray Size, and Customizable Safety Buffers.
• Provides insights: Agronomic Performance Reports provide growers with visibility into weed density, coverage, application volume, and more.

Verdant offers limited-time founders plan

Verdant Robotics is offering a limited-time Founders Plan to celebrate the Sharpshooter’s launch. This exclusive support plan includes ongoing software updates, feature enhancements, and access to the Innovator Plan at no additional cost.

The company said this ensures that growers can benefit from continuous improvements and premium support. It is now taking orders for the Sharpshooter Model B 20-ft. implement, but availability is limited.

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