Autonomous Large-Scale Mowingand Agricultural Weeding

GPS

Laser

Intelligence

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

• 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

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

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

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

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,

Weeding Value proposition

• Are Labor costs are significant? For 100 acres in Stanford, crew of 6, $43 - $63/hr

Work in progress…

Decision to make – mowing vs weeding

Application If ROI is < 1 yr they will

buy

Labor costs significant?

Autonomous would solve

problem?

TAM

Mowing of large fields

Yes.Professionally

run organizations

Yes Yes Adjusted up toxxx

Weeding in Agriculture

Agri Industry: YES!

Large Growers: Yes

Small Growers: No

YES! for organic crops

They are spending $500/ac!

Not necessarily

Key need is weed vs. crop differentiation

TAM increased to $2.6 B (Total

organic)

Target Market (organic

specialty) 162 M/yr

18%/yr growth