Aigen, a Seattle-based agricultural technology startup, has revealed an innovative autonomous robotics platform that operates entirely on solar and wind energy. This groundbreaking offering leverages the company’s proprietary quantized AI, presenting the only farming solution that reduces fossil fuel use while simultaneously providing farmers with real-time field insights, significant time savings, and cost reductions.
Aigen’s service, embodied in their autonomous vehicles, is aimed at alleviating farmers’ workload and dependence on fossil fuels, thereby enhancing crop and soil health. “Aigen was founded on the idea that there should be an alternative to the fossil fuels and pesticides used to produce our food. We have been working closely with farmers, like my family in Minnesota, to develop a solar-powered, on-edge AI platform that makes precision Ag scalable,” stated Rich Wurden, Co-founder and CTO of Aigen. “We are excited to share those tools with the introduction of the Aigen Element.”
The startup has experienced a surge in interest, with pre-orders for the Element Service for 2024 and 2025 selling out in a single day. This highlights the demand among U.S. commodity farmers for more efficient weeding strategies. American farmers use 900 million pounds of herbicide annually, and related costs are projected to surpass $100 per acre in the upcoming years. Furthermore 2019, farming equipment released 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.
Kenny Lee, Aigen’s Co-founder and CEO, emphasized the urgent need for an innovative solution. “Farmers repeatedly tell us that weeds are the number one problem they face. So, that’s where we’re starting: developing a solution for farmers to immediately reduce their costs and eliminate weeds while growing healthier crops.”
The company’s proprietary quantized AI, operating exclusively on renewable energy, powers its unique robotic solution. The AI models are remarkably efficient, requiring only 1.5W of power, considerably less than the average cell phone.
Aigen’s vehicles continuously send field and crop data to an in-house developed mobile app, providing farmers with real-time insights. Puneet Khattar, Aigen’s Head of Electrical Engineering, said, “We’re bringing satellite technology down to earth and deploying mesh network connectivity built on a robust, self-reliant hardware platform. This offers farmers higher resolution, real-time data, and helps them get ahead of problems.”
The Aigen Element robot is designed for maximum efficiency in the field. Its lightweight frame and solar panel, regenerative motors, and rugged suspension allow the robots to navigate and weed row crops for up to 14 hours a day under nearly any weather condition.
The Aigen Element Service will debut on over 20,000 acres of U.S. farmland in 2024.
Image provided by Aigen
