7 Elements

Solar Electric Tractor & LED Weeder

Problem: weeds

Existing solutions: 

  • Hand weeding

  • Mechanical tillage

  • Chemical spraying

Tasty tasty weeds (Lambsquarters)

  • 10 years of no chemicals (grass)
  • Tilled for planting soybeans
  • Great for growing giant ragweed
  • Ragweed & soybeans, after cultivator
  • Still lots of hand weeding to do
  • $30-$70 per acre for chemicals
  • $5/hour hand weeding doesn't scale

Great picture,

bad for harvest

Solution:

The world's most complicated magnifying glass

  • Solar electric tractor

  • High-power LED lights

  • Open-source hardware

Solution

  • Solar electric tractor
  • High-power LED lights
  • Open-source hardware

Ownership for the next generation

  • Knowledge transfer
  • Historical context
  • New ideas
  • Products with 100 year design lifespan

Ownership for the next generation

  • Knowledge transfer
  • Historical context
  • New ideas
  • Product with 40-75 year design lifespan

Collaborators and Suppliers

  • The Farmhand Tractor
    • Frame and mechanical
  • Aeroseeder LLC
    • common remote controls
    • automation (pixhawk)
  • Efabless
    • open source EDA tools
  • Skywater Technology
    • Motion control ASIC (future)
  • Anomly, Inc
    • Secure RiscV processor

Opportunity

  • 160 Million acres of corn and soybeans in US
  • Weed management as a service for 1% of acres
    • $48 Million to $112 Million revenue per year
  • Global corn and soy acres are 4-5 times larger

Opportunity

  • 160 Million acres of corn and soybeans in US
  • Weed management as a service for 1% of acres
    • $48 Million to $112 Million revenue per year
  • Farm equipment is $100/acre annually, ~$500/acre total investment
    • $25/acre for 1/4 of the US acreage invested in farm robots is $1B annual

Opportunity

  • 160 Million acres of corn and soybeans in US
  • Weed management as a service for 1% of acres
    • $48 Million to $112 Million revenue per year
  • Farm equipment is $100/acre annually, ~$500/acre total investment
    • $25/acre for 1/4 of the US acreage invested in farm robots is $1B annual
  • 1 robot can serve 1-5 acres
    • Processor/board/control system volume is ~25 million units per year to supply US

Opportunity: $100M to $1B