BC mushroom picking robot gets a $ 40 meter boost to fill the growing agricultural labor shortage
A BC -based startup that creates Artificial Intelligence (AI) -Run Mushroom Harvesting Robot, says that recently the investment of $ 40 million will help the company to be the state -of -the -art being of autonomous agricultural technology, at a time when industry is facing extensive labor.
4AG (pronunciation “forge”) Robotics is located in the city of Lakeside, the Rural Lakeside of Salman Arm, between Vancouver and Calgary on the outskirts of Rocky Mountains.
There, it forms robots that use AI-run cameras and suction cups, which use commercially developed buttons to trim, trim and pack.
Sixteen of the autonomous robots are already working in 24-hours-the need for brakes in-Canada, USA, Ireland, Netherlands and Australia. With a recent injection of $ 40 million in capital venture funds, 4AG is expected to increase in that number to 100 within the following year.
Innovation is part of the increase in AI agricultural technology worldwide. Since the food-production industry struggles with several challenges, including lack of labor, some farmers have to move to new technology to help. in Canada, Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council says Thousands of agricultural jobs remain incomplete every year, and lack of labor is expected to deteriorate.
According to Chris Payne, Chief Operating Officer of 4AG Robotics, this decrease in mushroom growing is particularly clear. On the fields of commercial mushrooms, people have to work in moist, dark warehouses around the clock, which is to maintain with fungi harvesting, which grows throughout the year and can double in size every 24 hours.
“All agriculture has a problem in finding people, but it is particularly intense in mushrooms because it is indoors in quite difficult circumstances,” Payne said.
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Chris Payne is the Chief Operating Officer of 4AG robotics. Calman Arm-based company created mushroom-picking robots. He has announced a capital of $ 57 million in just two years.
While 4ag predicts that the growing global demand for mushrooms will cross $ 70 billion by 2030, they are not expected to maintain speed in the number of people willing to get crops.
Payne said he hopes that his robots help fill the gap, while also reduce the cost of harvesting, which estimates 4Ags that 50 percent of the total production cost of the mushroom farm.
He said that when robots can handle labor-intensive harvesting jobs, humans will move to other areas. 4AG is currently hiring more employees to make, maintain, maintain and sell machines.
Prof. urges to use the brain of AI
Sean Smukler, director of the Center for Sustainable Food System at BC University, has a front-row seat for technological progress in agriculture.
“I think there are lots of exciting developments to use AI in agriculture on various parameters. I think it is a huge limit right now and many people are scratched to find out how to use it most effectively.”
Along with their team of researchers, Smukler uses artificial intelligence to analyze rapid soil to predict and address the plant nutrients in a scenario, as part of a national project.
In this summer, the weather is affecting the growing weather for local farmers. But some say that heat has not been bad news.
He said that technological progress is inspired by consumer demand, high food costs, global labor shortage and change in climate change.
Smukler stated that AI is being used in many aspects of agriculture, including accurate agriculture – where fertilizers such as inputs are applied in different amounts in a field – and targeted weeding, to reduce the requirement of herbsides.
He said, “The more efficient we can use our input, the less damage to us for the environment, but due to the efficiency of those input, the farmer also benefits more,” he explained.
More Canadian farmers are getting help from automation such as driverless tractors and robot crop inspectors, a shift that is important in struggling with shortage of old labor.
But when progress in AI technology can reduce the cost of food by replacing laborers, and can improve permanent farming practices, Smukler said that people should keep in mind how and when it is used.
He said, “I really hate to become robots for all agriculture, when in fact, there are many people who enjoy being farmers and the role of farming is really important in our society,” he said.
“(Artificial Intelligence) can make it worse, or it can actually be leveraged to enable people to do farming, which is very proud and cost effective.”
Smukler said that it is important to think about how AI technology develops, “We are not only allowing technologists to run options that are being done.”
