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Robot treats 500k plants per hour with 95% less chemicals [video]

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Re: Robot treats 500k plants per hour with 95% less chemicals [video]

#61
post #40

I'd love to work in this industry as a developer... coming from web/cloud what would the average interview be like? Is it more leetcode style? or system design? I would only want intermediate developer position at most for starters. What are some projects that would make someone stand out for AgTech Robotics stuff?

Ag needs crud too

Re: Robot treats 500k plants per hour with 95% less chemicals [video]

#63
post #8

Nice! If the robots can sustain on solar energy, even better.

That would be great, but I don't think we'll have batteries that can power a tractor for more than a short time on rough and soft terrain anytime soon.

Re: Robot treats 500k plants per hour with 95% less chemicals [video]

#64
post #62

While we're at it, let's get rid of the chemicals. There is no situation in which the toxic chemicals doesn't create a whole new set of problems.

> There is no situation in which the toxic chemicals doesn't create a whole new set of problems.

True, but the issue though is the problem they solve: famine.

Re: Robot treats 500k plants per hour with 95% less chemicals [video]

#66
post #62

While we're at it, let's get rid of the chemicals. There is no situation in which the toxic chemicals doesn't create a whole new set of problems.

> There is no situation in which the toxic chemicals doesn't create a whole new set of problems. True, but the issue though is the problem they solve : famine.

They can still be used as a bridge to when new systems are ready to replace the old.

Re: Robot treats 500k plants per hour with 95% less chemicals [video]

#67
post #60

This is an improvement within the current paradigm of "big ag", but IMHO tech is opening the possibility of a completely different way of doing things. For example, this comment which is below the linked video imagines a robot-maintained food forest, I think it's on point because I, too, believe that the future is swarms of small robots rather than a few big tractors: > Imagine, a few years down the line, applying th…

Sounds like we need a G.E.C.K.!

Re: Robot treats 500k plants per hour with 95% less chemicals [video]

#68

One thought I had while watching that the video didn't seem to explore is that if you can precisely map the field and remember every plant, and you have 4 million plants on your field, then it seems like you could enable precise experiments. Need to find the best mix for fertilizer or pesticides? Seems like you could do very precise and large N experiments to nail down what is best for your plants in your field and p…

You can go further than that. Monitor every plant's lifecycle and yield, and save the best for seed. How many generations before you get superwheat? You could even have multiple strains for the varying soil conditions across a single field. Add genetic testing, and you can boost genetic diversity for disease resistance. All without attracting 'GMO' labels.

Re: Robot treats 500k plants per hour with 95% less chemicals [video]

#69
post #67
post #60

This is an improvement within the current paradigm of "big ag", but IMHO tech is opening the possibility of a completely different way of doing things. For example, this comment which is below the linked video imagines a robot-maintained food forest, I think it's on point because I, too, believe that the future is swarms of small robots rather than a few big tractors: > Imagine, a few years down the line, applying th…

Sounds like we need a G.E.C.K.!

And G.E.C.K. kind of sounds like http://opensourceecology.org

Re: Robot treats 500k plants per hour with 95% less chemicals [video]

#70
When I see stuff like this sometimes I get depressed that I'm building apps that just move little bits of information around the web and don't have any real demonstrable value to the world.

How hard is the jump into the realm of computer vision/AI/robotics for someone with strong skills and experience building web applications? Is the coding much different? Is a company like this employing math/theroy-heavy people to develop new types of AI or are they working higher up the stack and just need people who can pipe data around?

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