Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered solar agriculture robotics company Aigen is inching closer to building its 7,500 sq ft manufacturing and R&D facility in the US, having raised $12 million in Series A financing. It aims to bring out its robotic fleet for mass use in farms in Spring 2024.
Powered by a custom 205 W lightweight solar panel, Aigen's robotic fleet, called Element, utilizes the company's proprietary quantized AI technology to pluck out weeds from the soil, to reduce the use of pesticides in farming.
Solar panels are meant to work as sails, taking advantage of high wind in farms. Element can navigate and weed row crops for up to 14 hours/day with its regenerative motors and rugged suspension, claims the technology company.
"The average cell phone needs 4 Watts of power. Our AI models need only 1.5 W, and everything about our vehicle is just as efficient. Paired with a custom 205 W solar panel, our robots often generate a power surplus at the end of a full day of running," explained Co-Founder and CTO of Aigen, Rich Wurden.
Aigen team says the Element solution is aimed at helping farmers reduce their labor costs while growing healthier crops. With AI, machine learning, solar and battery technology, it can generate additional information for farmers to gain more insights into their farm health.
"The benefits of our advanced, lightweight, super agile robots go far beyond weeding. We are excited to deliver field-level network connectivity and real-time data and insights that farmers can access from anywhere," said Aigen Co-Founder and CEO Kenny Lee.
Earlier this year, pre-orders for its Element Service were sold-out in one day, according to Aigen and the latest funding will help it meet the high pre-order demand. The technology will debut on more than 20,000 acres of US farmland in 2024.
Aigen raised $12 million from ReGen Ventures along with New Enterprise Associates, Cleveland Avenue, Incite and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments LLLP.
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