Silicon Valley startup IronOx is working with three AI robots. The startup has moved crops indoors and is now using robots to manage them, while smart cameras are placed throughout the room for close monitoring, as per a report by CNET. With this, they are working on growing crops better and more sustainably.
The Robots
The three new robots working at the facility are named Grover, Ada, and Max. Each robot has an assigned task - the first one moves trays of plants to a photo bay for inspection, the second one works on individual plants, and the third one handles the amount of water and nutrients to be given to plants based on what the cameras report.
The robots are programmed by knowledge experts to use the best human farming techniques.
According to David Silver, the IronOx's director of robotics, "We get a really high resolution scan of all the plants. This lets us make sure they're growing on track, predict how much we're going to have at harvest and see if an intervention is needed."
The interventions that Silver was referring to are water, light, nutrients, temperature, and humidity.
Also Read: AI, Nanotechnology May Help Solve World Hunger via 'Precision Agriculture,' Thanks to Research
Renewable Food
The result of all of this is renewable food. With the crops delivering consistent quality and yield and residual irrigation water is reused. IronOx also claims that they are only using the right amount of fertilizer. This is significant considering that fertilizers are a major source of methane because it uses a lot of energy to produce and generate a lot of greenhouse gasses.
With many IronOx growing centers, these can lead to shorter transportation distance to market and will tighten coupling to regional demand to reduce crop waste.
Human Staff Remains
Human staff is still important here as they are the ones who will harvest and pack IronOx produce. Moreover, the startup aims to be in the agriculture business. In fact, many of its products are now available in many stores in Northern California, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
With their growing facility in Texas, the company also plans to expand their Silicon Valley location.
IronOx's tech and vision may allow for better and more efficient regional growing, lower cost inputs, and renewable energy. Therefore, power production will be important to deliver success.
IronOx is just one of the many AI startups in the world, so what they do will be an inspiration to many others. Considering that it is also in the agriculture field, it will be closely monitored by many.
For now, the company's use of AI technology has the potential to have a significant impact on farming, both on a commercial and environmental level.
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Written by April Fowell
