If you’re interested in agriculture technology, then you’ve probably wondered what Blue River is and how it can benefit your business.
This article will cover three of the most important topics in the industry today: Machine learning, Advanced robotics, and Computer vision where Blue River has already adopted it.
You’ll also learn how Blue River technology can help you grow your business. This article will explain the basics. Then, you can get to know Blue River better and decide if it’s right for you.
What is Blue River Technology?
Blue River Technology is a company that employs computer vision and robotics technologies to build intelligent solutions for the agricultural industries.
This startup recently raised $17 million in Series A funding, with new investors such as Syngenta Ventures and Monsanto Growth Ventures joining the existing investor group.
Other investors include Khosla Ventures and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors. Its mission is to help reduce the use of chemicals in food production, and its robotics use is focused on identifying and analyzing plants.
The technology behind Blue River isn’t new. The company was founded by Louisa B-T, an engineer by training and background. She spent several years at Trimble, a research lab owned by Google, before founding Blue River Tech. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) and image processing to help agriculture professionals manage their fields.
The company’s AI also allows its tractors to steer themselves using GPS signals and image sensors to determine the quality of grain being harvested.
To train a neural net to detect different kinds of weeds, Blue River needs more than a million images of the plants. They have to capture as many weed varieties as possible, as this will help them learn which types of weed are most prevalent.
Blue River trains their neural nets on hundreds of GPUs at AWS. This allows them to train the networks faster. Blue River is also working to improve other agricultural processes with its technology.
How Blue River Technology are Transforming the Future of Farming?
Machine learning
The “See and Spray” technology developed by Blue River Technology employs cameras to analyze individual plants. The technology uses machine learning and a database of plant images to help farmers use less pesticides.
The software is built using an open-source machine-learning platform known as PyTorch. It also has the capability to rate the confidence of its classification. However, it needs to be trained to be able to accurately identify invasive weeds and crops.
The company has won numerous awards for its groundbreaking technology. It was named one of Inc. Magazine’s 25 Most Innovative Companies, one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, one of CB Insights’ 100 Most Promising Artificial Intelligence Startups, and it was named one of the Top 50 Agricultural Innovations by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
John Deere said it plans to invest $305 million in Blue River Technology, but will maintain its 60-person headquarters in Sunnyvale. The acquisition will keep Blue River Technology’s rapid growth, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit.
Robotics
A California-based company, Blue River Technology, has developed advanced computer vision and robotic technologies to help farmers with agriculture.
This technology can measure the needs of plants in fields and help farmers save money and resources by reducing the amount of nutrient and chemical use.
Founded by Stanford University alumni, the company has substantial experience in computer vision, robotics, and agriculture. In two CB Insights research briefs, Blue River Technology was mentioned.
One example is precision spraying, a technique that cuts down on pesticide usage by 90%. The company claims its robots use computer vision technology to target the right areas of the crops for the spray.
Another application of the company’s computer vision technology is in the phenotyping industry, where researchers are studying plant traits to produce high-quality seed. It may be more affordable than traditional herbicides, as farmers do not need to hire agronomists for every application.
Computer vision
The company’s latest breakthrough aims to make every plant count, with the use of robotics and computer vision.
Agricultural production faces a number of challenges, including reduced inputs, fewer acres, and increasingly stringent regulations.
Fortunately, Silicon Valley has turned its attention to agriculture. It has created a company called Blue River Technology that uses computer vision and robotics to reduce chemical use and maximize yield. Its LettuceBot can measure up to 5,000 plants per minute.
The company uses machine learning to train its system to identify specific types of plants. The company developed an algorithm to recognize weeds and crops in large databases of images.
Once the system has learned to recognize a particular plant, it can rate its accuracy in identifying it.
In addition, the technology can also rate how confident it is in its classification. For farmers, this technology could mean huge savings on their farming costs.
The company’s mission is to help feed the world with sustainable methods.