According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, 11 percent of 2020 greenhouse gas emissions came from agriculture efforts from livestock such as cows, agricultural soils, and rice production. This means that we have a desperate need to change how we produce our food.
Silicon Valley startup IronOx has been busy doing just that by using automation. It has moved crops indoors, used robots to manage them, and put them under the watchful eyes of smart cameras. The purpose? To grow more and better efficiently and sustainably.
It has three new robots working at its facility: Grover, Ada, and Max. The first moves trays of plants to a photo bay for inspection, the second tackles individual plants, and the third handles the amount of water and nutrients to be given to plants based on what the cameras report.