Agribots Coming to a Farm Near You



Pretty soon you may be getting your food lovingly grown by an agribot. Right now there is a boom in robotic development, and companies have been zeroing in their attention on agriculture to solve some big problems.
   For example, in Japan Spread Co. has developed a techno farm concept, which is essentially a smart greenhouse with robots carrying out the bulk of the heavy labor. The indoor environment of Spread Co.’s techno farm allows for micro-climate control for ideal growing conditions, and the vertical arrangement of the techno farm’s crops is extremely space efficient. Further, Spread Co.’s techno farm solves some pretty big farming challenges in Japan, as Japan has an aging population that may not be able to carry-out traditional farming practices and is an island with limited land for agriculture.
            Or, just this March, Walmart filed a patent for a robotic bee that pollinates crops, which may help to address pollination issues due to declining bee populations. These robotic bees may further help to improve an efficiency of greenhouse farming. Who knows? Maybe Walmart’s robo-bees will end up in a Spread Co. techno farm someday.
            It will be interesting to see the unique challenges agribots take on as development continues, as well as the way technology influences change in agriculture. At this rate, the day in a life of a farmer may be completely transformed in the next decade. In the meantime, we are along for the ride as the agribot IP space is heating up.

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