Agriculture hasn’t fundamentally changed since World War II, when the era of huge scale and vast plenty began. But today’s awareness of greenhouse gases, water conservation and food safety and stability call for a rethink. Silicon Valley startup IronOx suggests moving crops indoors, tending them with robots and doing so under the watchful eyes of smart cameras to grow more and better with less worry that the food sustaining us is also slowly killing us.

IronOx says the result of all this is “renewable food”: Not only do crops deliver consistent quality and yield but residual irrigation water is reused as are any unconsumed nutrients in it. More importantly the company claims that just the right amount of fertilizer is applied in the first place, tightly controlling a farm input that is a major source of methane, perhaps the most potent greenhouse gas. “Fertilizer requires a lot of energy to produce and emits a lot of greenhouse gasses,”

It’s a massive blow for a well-funded firm at the cross section of several growth areas. Iron Ox’s play has focused on fully automated greenhouses, courtesy of robotic arms, Kiva-like plant moving carts and other technologies. Utilizing indoor growing techniques and a trove of data, the pitch promised broader growing seasons in more diverse climates and the utilization of less resources than standard farming, all while still harnessing the sun in a way that is often altogether removed from vertical farming.

In a groundbreaking development poised to reshape the agricultural landscape, IronOx, a California-based startup, is pioneering the use of electrified robots equipped with smart cameras and sensors to revolutionize food production. Visitors to IronOx’s facilities have been left in awe by the seamless integration of advanced technology and traditional farming practices, leading to a paradigm shift in how crops are cultivated.

Initially captivated by IronOx’s electrified robots, visitors soon found themselves astounded by the remarkable capabilities of the company’s smart cameras and sensors. These innovations enable the robots to grow food with unprecedented precision and efficiency, surpassing the abilities of human farmers. IronOx’s AI-driven approach leverages a wealth of agricultural expertise, ensuring that the robots are equipped with the knowledge of the best human farming techniques.

According to IronOx’s CEO, Silver, the key to their system’s success lies in decoupling action from mobility. By employing robots to move plants instead of relying on human farmers traversing vast fields, IronOx eliminates the inherent limitations of human perception. While human eyes may possess a unique level of intuition, they often lack the precision and repeatability inherent in robotic hands and eyes.

This transformative approach to farming has sparked controversy among traditionalists, with legions of human farmers expressing skepticism and taking umbrage at the notion of being outperformed by robots. However, IronOx remains steadfast in its commitment to leveraging technology to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability.

As IronOx continues to refine its AI-powered farming solutions, the future of agriculture appears brighter than ever before. With electrified robots and smart technology at the forefront, IronOx is poised to lead the charge towards a more efficient, resilient, and environmentally-friendly food system.

Stay tuned for further developments as IronOx blazes a trail towards a new era of farming excellence.

The implications of IronOx’s innovation extend far beyond mere efficiency gains. With the global population on the rise and arable land becoming increasingly scarce, solutions like those pioneered by IronOx offer a glimmer of hope for sustainable food production in the face of mounting challenges.

Source: Brian Cooley · cnet

Tesla unveiled Optimus Gen-2, the 2nd generation of the Tesla Bot. This bipedal robot has the ability to walk independently, dance, and manipulate physical objects.

According to Optimus’ official bio, the robot is “a general purpose, bi-pedal, humanoid robot capable of performing tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring.”

This latest announcement highlights that Optimus Gen-2 has come a long way from the initial prototypes of Optimus and Bumblebee unveiled at Tesla AI Day 2022. Back then, Optimus couldn’t walk, while Bumblebee could walk and conduct basic tasks like manipulating boxes and watering plants.

The robot is 10 kg (22 lb) lighter, 30% faster, and more capable than previous models. It has tactile sensing on all fingers, foot force/torque sensing, and articulated toe sections.

Optimus Gen 2 has the following capabilities:

Hand dexterity
11 DoF
Tactile sensors
Walking independently
Dancing
Manipulating objects

Source: Tim Keary Technology Specialist checkmark | Techopedia

The idea is getting some backlash, with many raising concerns about wages and working conditions. According to a report from the Toronto Star, these individuals are making about $3.75 US (about $4.78 Cdn) per hour — a stark contrast to the $15.65 Cdn minimum wage in B.C. business might do this because of the difficulty finding domestic labour, and virtual cashiers are an alternative to self-checkouts. Other restaurants like McDonald’s and IKEA bistros have screens for ordering food, cutting out the cashier altogether

Humanoid Store Keeper

“Experience the future of shopping as stores adopt virtual cashiers powered by iPads.”
“Innovative stores are employing iPad-based virtual cashiers for seamless transactions.”
“Step into the future of retail with stores employing virtual cashiers on iPads.”
“iPad-powered virtual cashiers are enhancing the checkout experience in stores.”
“Embrace the convenience of virtual cashiers on iPads in your local stores.”
“Discover how stores are streamlining checkout with virtual cashiers on iPads.”
“Explore the cutting-edge use of iPads as virtual cashiers in modern stores.”
“Virtual cashiers on iPads are redefining efficiency in store operations.”
“Experience the simplicity and speed of iPad-driven virtual cashiers at stores.”

Source: Courtney Dickson · CBC News

Miso is getting 150 inquiries a week for its Flippy robot, said Mike Bell, CEO of Miso. Flippy uses artificial intelligence, sensors, computer vision and robotic arms to fry fast food, like French fries and chicken wings. Miso take innovating seriously. Compared to the original model, Flippy 2 (new model) requires even less labor to operate and is engineered to fry nearly anything. A compact, modular design makes it adaptable to even the tightest kitchen spaces. It comes with automatic dispenser from freezer or refrigerated storage for high-volume fried foods. The robot also can identifies the food, senses the oil temperature, and monitors the cook time.

Way back in 2020 before Covid-19 hits us, TM Robot has already started to utilized their robot in food industry. Not just cooking, the cobot helps in doing chores inside the restaurant and helps attending customer.

The application of cobots has proved useful in environments with special climatic or hygienic conditions. They work in environmental temperatures between 0 and 50 degrees Celsius and function in low-oxygen environments which would require complex equipment for human staff. The machines are hermetically sealed and provided with a smooth outer housing that collects almost no dust or deposits. As a tool, the robots helps to fulfill the specific requirements of the industry.

Source: Miso Robot, Forbes, UR, Techman Robot

For an autonomous robot, gauging object’s softness and hardness is essential to deciding not only where and how hard to grasp them but how they will behave when moved, stacked or laid on different surfaces. Tactile sensing could also aid the robots in differentiating objects that look similar. Previously, in order to determined the hardness of an object, robots have to lay an object on flat surface and gently poking them to see how much pressure they gives.

This is totally different from the way human gauge hardness. Our judgment is based on degree to which the contact area between the object and our fingers change on it. Softer objects tend to flatten more when pressed hence increasing the contact area. The researches adopted the same approach and came out with this idea.

GelSight‘s 3D tactile sensing is a solutions that address a wide variety of surface inspection challenges. The video explains how the use of tactile sensing gives robots added perception and intelligent interaction. This systems could helps in various high-value applications, including;
1. Robotic inspection for quality assurance.
2. Material properties identification.
3. Manufacturing and assembly process efficiency.
4. Industrial inspection to check for scratch, bump or any defect on material surface

In future, GelSight plan to improves the system with temperature and vibration detections to simulate as almost the same as human fingers. With this upgrades, the robot can identify directly more details what type of material it is holding/touching; such as determined whether the thing is metal or wood, is it wet or dry, even can differentiate between unvarnished wood and perfectly smooth surface.

It is not impossible that one day, robot can have fingers exactly the same as us, human, which can sense and moves exactly the same. Besides, GelSight goal is to provide the sensing capability, so that the robot can skillfully interact with the world.

Source: http://www.gelsight.com , MIT News