Phil | The next greenhouse robot

Iron Ox, a farming innovation company with deep expertise in plant science, robotics and artificial intelligence, has officially announced its second ground-breaking greenhouse robot, Phil.

"This not only allows our grow team to optimize for the market demand, while giving each and every plant exactly what it needs — eliminating waste, but ultimately this knowledge can and will benefit the entire industry"

Phil is a critical addition to the Iron Ox ecosystem that optimizes plant yield, expands growth cycles and maximizes crop quality. His state-of-the-art sensor technology identifies trends in each module's water and nutrient mix, measuring nutrient content and pH levels with speed and precision. Phil is equipped with Ultraviolet LEDs for quick and efficient sanitizing without producing waste. The result is delicious, nutritious, locally sourced fruits and vegetables with substantially lower environmental impacts.

"The clever thing with Phil is that we can adjust each of the thousands of modules in our Texas greenhouse to grow the same and/or a variety of crops under different nutrient profiles, which in our controlled environment, rapidly accelerates our understanding of plant science," said Brandon Alexander, Iron Ox CEO, who grew up picking cotton, potatoes and peanuts on his family's farm in Texas. "This not only allows our grow team to optimize for the market demand, while giving each and every plant exactly what it needs — eliminating waste, but ultimately this knowledge can and will benefit the entire industry"

Phil is integrated into the Iron Ox greenhouse system, with all the data he collects going into the company's robust agricultural dataset. This data informs the plant scientist's optimization strategies. For example, when Grover brings a module in for a checkup, the amount of water and nutrient content may vary based on different conditions, and the team may see a trend that provides valuable information on water or nutrient usage for each plant varietal.

How it works

Phil quickly and precisely fills each 6-by-6-foot plant module in under two minutes. How it works: Grover, the recently announced autonomous mobile robot, transports plant modules and docks with Phil, who, using his advanced sensors, hygienically fills it precisely to the required volume and nutrient mix. The module is now ready for Grover to retrieve it and deliver it to its next destination. Phil enables high throughput of modules, making the interaction between Grover and Phil akin to a Formula 1 pitstop. This contactless procedure eliminates the need to re-sanitize Phil after each module.

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Source: BusinessWire