Ben Alfi, the company’s CEO, emphasizes that rather than developing its own autonomy stack, his team focuses on “autonomy now.” The platform allows an array of customers, including farmers and local governments, to achieve their goals, using the right collection of robots for each task.

Agriculture, in particular, is an important market. The company’s after-market autonomy kits help farmers put their existing tractors on Blue White Robotics’ platform, and manage the equipment autonomously.

Blue White Robotics also supports the pollination needs of large growers with aerial spraying. Whereas many drone delivery applications have been limited by the carrying capabilities of aerial vehicles, spraying takes advantage of drones’ mobility capabilities, while minimizing the payload the drones need to lift.

Far from competing with the autonomous drone and vehicle companies, Alfi’s team aims to complement and support them.

“Humility is part of our approach. We recognize that we cannot do everything ourselves. We provide a platform to the customer to manage the autonomous fleet, through which both customers and vendors, such as robotics companies, collect data.”

Alfi says.

Source: Blue White Robotics

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This becomes especially important in light of the SGMA law and its implications on efficient water management. So one of the main questions is the correlation between high yields and recommended irrigation practices.

Communicating trees’ real-time water demand

Based on direct plant data from 6 million almond trees in The Valley, Phytech’s team has observed significant phenomena that have already caused a shift in irrigation strategies applied by Phytech’s customers.

Pollinators showed higher water demand

Researchers at UC Davis recently discussed the possibility that Nonpareil almond trees and pollinators might differ in water requirements. This can be attributed to the difference in tree size and crop load. Phytech’s growers already know the answer: they differ and not by a small margin. According to Phytech data, Carmel and Monterey experienced 3 times more stress compared to the NP variety. This was further validated by data from Australia, where Phytech almond customers managed to save 80 billion liters in 2019 thanks to irrigating differently between varieties and based on real-time water demand.

Irrigate differently

The clear difference in water demand between varieties helped farmers fine-tune their irrigation plans per block, save water and avoid over-irrigation in less stress-prone blocks. While some blocks showed no-stress status (green) others with pollinators entered stress and required intervention and adapting irrigation policy. 

Frequency or Quantity?

Another important question is what should be the best response for stress at this stage of the season? should growers deliver more water during a long session or apply smaller quantities more frequently?  Again, no need to guess. Phytech’s data shows that in most of the cases, the quantity of water delivered was not the issue. Stress-avoidance was achieved by raising the irrigation frequency. Pollinators’ bigger size and crop load might affect their water uptake from the deeper root zone, so keeping the upper part of the soil adequately irrigated with frequent water delivery will keep the trees happy. Another advantage of the “frequency” strategy is that smaller quantities will less likely wash away important nutrients that are still in the soil.

About Phytech

Phytech is helping the world’s leading growers manage and optimize their production by connecting them to their plants. They call this Plant-based Farming. Based on real-time data from the plant, the fruit (in relevant crops), and the irrigation system growers can avoid stress, optimize water delivery, and achieve better and higher yields.

Phytech currently operates in the USA, Australia, Israel, Europe, and South America and supports the following crops: Almonds, pistachios, citrus, avocados, grapes, apples, pears, mangos, cherries, corn, soybean, cotton, hemp.

With hundreds of customers in California, 70%+ coverage of almond trees in Australia, and 90% of the Israeli market, Phytech has become the top management platform for advanced growers looking to optimize their production and harness the power of digital transformation.

How does it work

Phytech sensors on selected plants continuously monitor micro-variations of stem diameter, which are scientifically proven stress indicators.  Phytech applies patented algorithms that transform data into crop-specific plant status (their plant status patent has been recognized both by the US and the Australian patent departments) which are then presented in a simple color-coded indicator. Keeping plant status in the recommended range (green) and avoiding stress (red) leads to production optimization.

MDS (Maximum daily trunk shrinkage) and trunk growth graphs complete the picture to give growers a deeper understanding of what is happening in each block as well as certainty in decision making.

Phytech’s irrigation recommendation provides further support and a benchmark that helps growers avoid under/over-irrigation. The plant reference line is a new feature that enables growers to compare their trees’ current growth status against a historical benchmark (same variety, same age) gathered from millions of trees that we have covered from years.

In crops such as citrus and apples, they install fruit sensors that allow growers to achieve the desired fruit size by monitoring the fruits in real-time and changing irrigation accordingly.

Pressure sensors placed on the irrigation system monitor actual irrigation in each block and trigger push notifications alerts once low pressure has been detected. Accurate tracking of irrigation quantities has become super important in California where growers need to comply with SGMA regulations.

For growers ready to take the next step, Phytech offers a standalone automation solution that is also compatible with existing HW suppliers such as WiseConn and Motorola.

Irrigation management made smarter and simpler

These 2 data streams generated from the tree and the irrigation system (as well as weather and soil moisture data) give growers a complete view that helps optimize production. Stress and irrigation push notification alerts enable fast response from their mobile. Phytech’s Planner allows growers to easily create an irrigation plan, track events, and share tasks with co-workers. No hardware installation, no maintenance fee.

Farmer-friendly, success-driven

A subscription-based model gives their customers flexibility and peace of mind. Pay annually for the data and do not have to invest in hardware or deal with maintenance. Their 24/7 success teams making sure that growers are making the most out of the service.

The post At World Ag Expo, Phytech Platform Connects Growers and Plants appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Liebherr-MCCtec Rostock GmbH together with Aibel AS has signed a contract for the delivery of a cylinder-luffing crane, type RL 2600-35 Lit. The company TenneT TSO GmbH commissioned Aibel AS to build the offshore platform DolWin epsilon on which the Liebherr crane will be used for supply and maintenance tasks on the German North Sea.

The RL 2600-35 Lit is a weight-optimized and compact designed offshore crane. It is the ideal equipment for small platforms, where space is limited. The RL 2600-35 Lit has a box boom with a maximum working outreach of 52 meters and a maximum lifting capacity of 35 tons.

“With the RL 2600-35 Lit, we are delivering the latest innovation within our offshore crane portfolio. The crane is ready to be equipped with innovative maintenance features to meet the demanding requirements of normally unmanned offshore platforms and with its reliable and maintenance-friendly design the RL 2600-35 Lit will help to lead the DolWin5 project to a success”,

says Matti Basan, Sales Manager Offshore Cranes.

With DolWin5 TenneT realizes a high-voltage direct current offshore grid connection system in the German part of the North Sea. The grid connection has a transmission capacity of 900 MW and is located in the DolWin cluster. DolWin5 is to connect the offshore wind park Borkum Riffgrund 3 to the high-voltage grid onshore.

Long cooperation with Aibel AS and TenneT

The RL 2600 will be delivered in the middle of 2021. Until that, Liebherr will collaborate closely with Aibel AS, who is responsible for building the offshore platform. With this order, the business relationship between Liebherr and Aibel AS is expanded and strengthened. Once the platform has been completed, TenneT will take it over and operate the RL 2600-35 for maintenance work and the loading and uploading of offshore supply vessels.

Liebherr delivered already 13 RL cranes to the customer TenneT. Various sizes were requested, from the RL 850 and the RL 1500 to the RL 2650 with a possible maximum lifting capacity up to 60 tonnes. All of these cranes are placed on offshore platforms, which are necessary for the operation of offshore wind farms. Liebherr and TenneT are thus contributing to the expansion of renewable energies and emission-free power supply.

Weight-optimized and compact design

A weight-optimized and compact design with a load-bearing capacity up to 100 tonnes makes the ram luffing crane series (RL) from Liebherr an ideal piece of equipment for small and unmanned platforms or floating storage vessels. The ram luffing crane RL can be powered electro-hydraulically or diesel-hydraulically and is available for explosive areas in accordance with the requisite classification. The box-type booms in the RL crane have a cylinder luffing design. This lowers the height and weight to a minimum and enables low-maintenance operation.

Source: Liebherr

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Based on attendee votes through the United Fresh LIVE! platform, we can now announce the “best of the best” in executing virtual booths on the expo floor.

The winners in each category for United Fresh LIVE! Best in Show are:

• Best Use of Graphics: Chiquita Brands LLC
• Best Use of Video: Driscoll’s
• Best Use of Downloads: Del Monte Fresh Produce, N.A., Inc.
• Best FreshMKT Booth: Pure Flavor – Pure Hothouse Foods, Inc.
• Best FreshTEC Booth: IFCO Systems, N.A.
• Best Overall Booth: Sunset/Mastronardi Produce Ltd.

“I’m blown away by the creativity of our United Fresh LIVE! virtual exhibitors,”

said John Toner, Vice President of Conventions & Industry Collaboration, United Fresh Produce Association.

“We’re grateful for all exhibitors who participated this year and are pleased to be able to honor those whose strategies took advantage of the opportunities that the platform had to offer.”

With United Fresh LIVE! online 24-7, be sure to log back in to see why these exhibits stood out for attendees, as well as explore the full virtual expo. To login, visit www.unitedfreshlive.org.

Source: United Fresh Produce Association

The post United Fresh Names Best In Show Virtual Exhibit Booth appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Features for the new online platform include:

• Place equipment orders from your phone, laptop, ipad etc.
• Create a shopping list for items you order all the time.
• Get all your invoices digitally.
• Search by part number, vendor or product category.
• Track your shipments online.
• All orders connect to our system and your customer account.

  

Source: Northwest pump

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