From Mars to the fields of North America and beyond

Picture: Verdant Robotics

Not many can boast of bringing space-age technology to farms around the world, yet that's exactly the case for Silicon Valley-based ag-tech firm Verdant Robotics.

Verdant’s multi-action, autonomous platform is the only ag robot in the US market that can simultaneously weed, fertilise, and treat plants for pests and diseases – all while collecting real-time data on each plant.

Through its commercial 'Robotics-As-A-Service' concept, the firm already actively services a wide variety of speciality crops on thousands of acres, with orders in the pipeline for machines to cover tens of thousands more. The concept, which offers technology through subscription models, expands access to robotics for farmers and reduces the technology burden on growers. 

Verdant is headed up by chief executive Gabe Sibley, whose CV includes working on the Mars Curiosity Rover as the Software Development Lead, with Chris Leger, Verdant's VP of System Architecture, also beginning his career as a robotics and software engineer for NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab at Caltech.

“Verdant’s ultra-precision spraying platform is here today — adding new value while doing more with less. Thanks to the ongoing support from our investors, growers can thrive as we deploy this transformative technology together,” said Gabe Sibley. “At Verdant, we believe that an outsized opportunity requires an oversized effort that only robotics can deliver for agriculture.

“Autonomous vehicles and dancing robots may get headlines, but there really is no more impactful area for robotics, automation, and machine learning to be applied than agriculture. Growing abundant foods in sustainable ways is our generation’s biggest challenge and the founding principle behind Verdant Robotics."

The firm has already secured more than $46m in backing for its system, which is capable of millimetre-accurate spraying and laser weeding with digital crop modelling and machine-learning functionalities.

It works by digitising the farm at a "sub-millimetre scale", indexing it, using deep-learning machine vision designed by a world-class team of roboticists, and taking the appropriate precision agriculture actions.

Harper Adams’ Hands-Free Hectare broke the mould six years ago when it successfully completed the world’s first fully autonomous cropping cycle. But those behind it will admit significant resources went into achieving the "perfect hectare" on which the concept was tested.

But unlike the relatively clean surface of Mars or the 'perfect hectare', our rugged fields are filled with obstacles – from rocks and hedges to perhaps even the odd stray sheep or walker - the team will have their work cut out making the concept "farmer proof".