Autonomow E245 final presentation

FINAL PRESENTATION

Team AutonomowENGR-245

ConfidentialFor further information

contact [email protected]

d.edu

9 MASTERS DEGREES 1 PHD AND LOTS OF PASSION

Jorge Heraud (MS Management, 2011) Business Unit Director, Agriculture, Trimble Navigation Director of Engineering, Trimble Navigation MS&E (Stanford), MSEE (Stanford), BSEE (PUCP, Peru)

Lee Redden (MSME Robotics, Jun 2011) Research in haptic devices, autonomous systems and surgical

robots BSME (U Nebraska at Lincoln) Family Farms in Nebraska

Joe Bingold (MBA, Jun 2011) Head of Product Development for Naval Nuclear Propulsion Plant

Control Systems, US Navy MSME (Naval PGS), BSEE (MIT), P.E. in Control Systems

Fred Ford (MSME, Mar 2011) Senior Eng for Mechanical Systems on Military Satellites BS Aerospace Eng (U of Michigan)

Uwe Vogt (MBA, Jun 2011) Technical Director & Co-Owner, Sideo Germany (Sub. Vogt Holding) PhD Mechanical Engineering (FAU, Germany) MS Engineering (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)

Additionally, we got great help from Morgan Quigley (PhD in computer vision) Awesome mentors Carrotbot1.0Confidential

OUR INITIAL PLAN

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BUSINESS PLAN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES FOR MOWING & WEEDING

We reduce operating cost- Labor reduction- Better utilization of assets (eg mow or weed at nights)- Improved performance (less rework, food safety)

Mowing- Owners of public or commercially used green spaces (e.g. golf courses)- Landscaping service provider

Weeding- Farmers with manual weeding operations

Dealers sell, installs and supports customer

Co. trains dealers, supports dealers- Mowing Dealers- Ag Dealers

- Innovation- Customer Education- Dealer training

Dealer discount COGS seek a 50-60% Gross MarginHeavy R&D investment

- Dealers (Mowing and Ag)- Vehicle OEMs (John Deere, Toro, Jacobsen, etc)

- Research labs

Asset saleOur revenue stream derives from selling the equipment

Engineers on Autonomous vehicles, GPS, path-planning

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20 INTERVIEWS, 6 SITE VISITS…WE GOT OUR BOOTS DIRTY

WeedingVisited two farms in Salinas Valley to better understand problem

Interviewed:• Bolthouse Farms, Large Agri-Industry in Bakersfield• White Farms, Large Peanut farmer in Georgia• REFCO Farms, large grower in Salinas Valley• Rincon Farms, large grower in Salinas Valley• Small Organic Corn/Soy grower in Nebraska• Heirloom Organics, small owner/operator, Santa Cruz Mts• Two small organic farmers at farmers market• Ag Services of Salinas, Fertilizer applicator

MowingInterviewed:• Golf: Stanford Golf course • Parks: Stanford Grounds Supervisor, head of maintenance

and lead operator (has crew of 6)• Toro dealer (large mower manufacturer) • User of back-yard mowing system• Maintenance Services for City of Los Altos• Colony Landscaping (Mowing service for stadiums)

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HAND WEED CONTROL IS A NIGHTMARE

Crews of 100s needed

Labor getting harder to get

Back-breaking task

2-3 weedings per crop

Food contamination risk

$250-1,000 per acre

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AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES AREN’T NEEDED

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AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES WEEDING

We reduce operating cost- Labor reduction (100 to 1)- Reduced risk of contamination- Mitigate labor availability concerns

- Low density vegetable growers- High density vegetable growers- Thinning operations- Conventional vegetables


Co. trains dealers, supports dealers- Ag Dealers- Ag Service providers



- Ag Dealers- Ag Service providers

- Research labs


Engineers on Machine VisionTwo problems:- Identification- Elimination

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GOT LUCKY – WORLD AG EXPO IN TULARE, CAJUST LONG ENOUGH TO BUILD A CARROTBOT!

Interviews• Gonzales Machine and Forge, Inc., California• Integrated Crop Pest Management, California• Coastal Tractor, California• Ag West Supply, Oregon• Martin Kleinschmit, Organic Farmer in Nebraska• Burks Tractor, Idaho• FISCHER Landtechnik, Germany• GARTNER, Land, Forst-und Kommunaltechnik, Germany• Fisher Equipment Supply (John Deere Dealer), McMinville, OR• Cascade Farm Machinery, Silverton, OR

Trip to Tulare, CA for World Ag Expo

Built the Data Collection Prototype – “Carrotbot”• 200 hrs of work • Recruited Computer Vision Engineer (Morgan)• Interviewed Ken Giles from UC Davis• Interviewed David Slaughter from UC Davis

Visit Bolthouse farms in Avenal, CA

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1 Week – 1 CarrotBot

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Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Sunday Monday Tuesday

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CARROTBOT MEETS THE CARROT FIELD WEDNESDAY

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FUTURE TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT

Recognition is on cutting edge but doable

Use Hyper-Spectral Imaging Weed elimination needs more work Partner with Ken Giles of UC Davis

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WORLD AG EXPO INTERVIEWS:THE NEED IS REAL AND WIDE SPREAD

10+ interviews at show Everyone confirmed the need Robocrop, UK based, crude

competitor sells for $171 K

Revenue Stream Mid to small growers prefer a

service Large growers prefer to buy,

but OK with service until technology is proven

Charging for labor cost saved is OK, as we provide other benefits (food safety, labor availability)

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AUTONOMOUS WEEDING - FINAL



Direct- Provide high quality service at competitive price

Direct - Alliance with service providers- Eventually sell through dealers


Costs for service provisionCOGS seek a 50-60% Gross MarginHeavy R&D investment

- Ag Service providers

- Research Institutes (eg UC Davis, Laser Zentrum Hannover)

- 3-4 key farms

Service provision- Charge by the acre with modifier according to weed density - Eventually move to asset sale


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ORGANICS ARE GROWING FAST• Doubled in 4 years

but still less than 5% of total

• Consumers care about fair labor practices

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VEGGIES LOSE AGAINST WEEDS

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BUT HAND WEEDING IS UNSUSTAINABLE

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ROBOTIC ELIMINATION IS 10X CHEAPER

100:1 labor advantage

Farmers struggle with labor availability

Hand weeding risks food contamination

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GROWTH PATH FOR AUTONOMOW

Simple Crops 2011TAM $ 445.28 SM $ 95.17 TM $ 92.07

All Veggies 2015TAM $ 796.87 SM $ 356.70 TM $ 351.82

WE ARE STARTING THE COMPANY

Mar 2011

Jun 2011Graduati

on

Sep 2011

Funding

Sep 2012First unit

Screening strategic seed investment by domain experts

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Technology Track

Market Track

Finance Track

Advisory board member & minimize risk

Advisory board member & minimize risk

Proof of concept

Get first customer order

First unit

Series A

System design

Select 1st target crop

Q&AQ&A:

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For further information contact

[email protected]

(408) 718 7457

LASER SOLUTION SEEMS PROMISINGLaser Zentrum Hannover German laser research

lab Currently studying using

lasers for weed control Findings:

Effective and efficient Maximal dose of 5 J mm2 CO2 laser better than diode

Source: “Laser Light Beams for Weed Control in Horticulture” C. Woltjen, et. al., LZH

UC DAVIS

Over 10 years of weed recognition and elimination research Hyper-spectral imaging Precision spray of hot organic oil

Dr. David Slaughter, UC Davis

Source: “Autonomous robotic weed control systems”, D.C. Slaughter, et. al. Computers & Electronics in

Agriculture, 2008

PRODUCT OFFERING

Equipment Trainer/Operator Logistics Maintenance

Daily rental: All Inclusive Weeding Kit

“I like it, because I need to pay for the equipment only when needed. Plus, you guys make sure the technology works“.

“I like it, because it allows us to test a new service in different small-acreage environments. Eventually, I want to buy.“

“I like it, but once the technology is robust, I want to buy.”

Competition does asset sale with mixed success: one of the “Vincents” bought a Robocrop, but cannot operate it.

competitor

GROWTH FOR ORGANIC FARMS

Technology Matures

WEEK 2 – BUSINESS CANVAS

We reduce operating cost- Labor reduction- Better utilization of assets (eg mow or weed at nights)- Improved performance (less rework, food safety)

Mowing- Owners of public or commercially used green spaces (e.g. golf courses)- Landscaping service provider

Weeding- Farmers with manual weeding operations


Co. trains dealers, supports dealers- Mowing Dealers- Ag Dealers



- Dealers (Mowing and Ag)- Vehicle OEMs (John Deere, Toro, Jacobsen, etc)

- Research labs


Engineers on Autonomous vehicles, GPS, path-planning

Confidential

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES WEEDING




Co. trains dealers, supports dealers- Ag Dealers- Ag Service providers



- Ag Dealers- Ag Service providers

- Research labs



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THE BUSINESS PLAN CANVAS UPDATED

•Research Labs•Equipment Manufacturers•Distribution Network•Service Providers

•Technology Design•Marketing•Demo and customer feedback

•Cost Reduction•Remove labor force pains•Eliminate bio-waste hazards•IP – Patents

•Video Classifier Files•Robust Technology

•Farming conventions.•Demo, demo, and demo!!•Proximity is paramount

•Organic Farmers•Weeding Service Providers•Conventional Farmers

•Dealers•Direct Service•Indirect Service• … then Dealers

•Asset Sale•Direct Service with equipment rental•… then Asset Sale

Value-Driven


•Research Labs•Equipment Manufacturers•Distribution Network•Service Providers





•Mid/Large Organic Farmers•Agricultural corporations•Weeding Service Providers

•Mid/Large Conventional Farmers

•Direct Service•Indirect Service• … then Dealers

•Direct Service with equipment rental•($1,500/d; 120d/yr )•Low density: $1,500/d•High density: $6,000/d

Value-Driven


•Research Labs•Equipment Manufacturer•Distribution Network•Service Providers• 2 or 3 Key Farms





•Mid/Large Organic Farmers•Agricultural corporations•Weeding Service Providers

•Mid/Large Conventional Farmers

•Direct Service•Indirect Service• … then Dealers

•Direct Service with equipment rental•Low density: $1,500/d•High density: $6,000/d

Value-Driven• R&D• Bill of Materials• Training & Service• Sales

AUTONOMOUS WEEDING - FINAL



Direct- Provide high quality service at competitive price

Direct - Alliance with service providers- Eventually sell through dealers


Costs for service provisionCOGS seek a 50-60% Gross MarginHeavy R&D investment

- Ag Service providers

- Research Institutes (eg UC Davis, Laser Zentrum Hannover)

- 3-4 key farms

Service provision- Charge by the acre with modifier according to weed density - Eventually move to asset sale


Confidential

Autonomow E245 final presentation

Education

Transcript of Autonomow E245 final presentation