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Autonomous Large-Scale Mowing and Agricultural Weeding

Autonomous Large-Scale Mowing and Agricultural Weeding. Intelligence. GPS. Laser. Need to decide between mowing and weeding. Used framework from class #3 and 12 tips for customer interviews. Weeding – 6 interviews. Bolthouse Farms, Large Agri -Industry in Bakersfield

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Autonomous Large-Scale Mowing and Agricultural Weeding

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  1. Autonomous Large-Scale Mowingand Agricultural Weeding Intelligence GPS Laser

  2. Need to decide between mowing and weeding • Used framework from class #3 and 12 tips for customer interviews

  3. Weeding – 6 interviews • Bolthouse Farms, Large Agri-Industry in Bakersfield • Rincon Farms, large grower in Salinas Valley • REFCO Farms, large grower in Salinas Valley • White Farms, Large Peanut farmer in Georgia • 2 Small organic farmers at farmers market

  4. Found weeding in organic crops is HUGE problem; 50 - 75% of costs Crews of 100s-1000 Back-breaking task (Ilegal) labor harder to get 1-5 weedings per year/field $250-3,500 per acre and increasing Food contamination risk

  5. Organic Weeding Value proposition • Labor costs are significant YES!; $250-3,500/ac each year; Weeding is 75% of cost of producing the crop! • Traditional weed solutions can’t be used in Organic Duh! • Only solution today is manual labor Crews of 100s-1000 are issue • Market is very large 2.6 M organic acres in US. TAM $2.5B, Initial target market is $150M (veggies & specialty), size doubling every 4 yrs. • Combination of Autonomous vehicles and video weed recognition would solve problem Problem is plant vs. weed recognition. No real need for autonomous vehicle, but real need for a solution

  6. Mowing – 6 interviews • Stanford Grounds • Supervisor • Maintenance • Lead operator (has crew of 6) • Stanford Golf curse • Toro (large mower manufacturer) dealer • User of back-yard mowing system • More lined-up for later in the week

  7. Labor is large part of ground maintenance Three segments: • Golf courses • Stadiums • Parks Each has 2-3 sub types (eg greens, fairways, rough in golf) uses different machines,

  8. Weeding Value proposition • Are Labor costs are significant? For 100 acres in Stanford, crew of 6, $43 - $63/hr Work in progress…

  9. Decision to make – mowing vs weeding

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