Post on 11-Oct-2020
History
• Crinklaw Farm Services Inc. founded in 1982 in Kingsburg, CA• Services provided by CFS, LP
• Commercial pesticide and herbicide application for trees and vines• Tree-See application• Mechanical wine grape pruning• Mechanical grape harvesting• Soil amendment spreading
• History of innovation and fabrication• Spray up to 5,000 acres a day during peak season
The Idea
• Labor challenges• Labor shortage• Labor costs
• Necessity breeds innovation• 2014 began building autonomous orchard sprayer• Never been done before
GUSS is Born
• GUSS – Global Unmanned Spray System• Completed development late 2017• Very challenging due to loss of GPS in orchard• 1 person can monitor up to 10 machines at a time• Currently developing a vineyard model
GUSS Video
GUSS Advantages
• Labor savings is obvious advantage • Less obvious advantages
• Efficiency• Precision• Safety
Efficiency
• Labor efficiency• Less down time• 4-wheel steering• Nurse truck
reloading• Eliminating
operator error
Precision
• Set exact parameters• Vehicle speed• Flow rate• Fan speed
• Spray automatically turns on/off during turns and across avenues
Safety
• Employee safety• Machine safety
• Obstacle detection• On-board camera• Virtual fence• Impact sensing bumper
• Environmental safety• Food safety
Vision for the Future
• Agricultural Industry• Labor continue to become more challenging• Stricter food safety guidelines • World population increase by 2 billion in next 30 years• Agriculture must innovate and automate to feed the world
• GUSS’s future• Fleets of GUSS sprayers in orchards and vineyards worldwide• Unmatched efficiency, precision, and safety• Autonomous tractors
Questions?