Grainswest - Fall 2023

Fall 2023 Grains West 16 THE FARMGATE with their emphasis on validation and demonstration of ag-tech, provide that function.” GrainsWest recently spoke with partici- pants in three ongoing CAAIN-supported projects to learn how the organization has supported them. MOJOW EYEBOX Owen Kinch is a Saskatchewan grain farmer. He knows first-hand just how challenging it is to raise a family while completing farm work in a timely manner. This experience led him to co-found Mo- jow Autonomous Solutions, a technology company with the mission to streamline on-farm operations with the use of digital technology, AI and robotics. “One of the largest challenges farmers face today is the availability of skilled la- bour to execute time-sensitive operations that greatly affect farming outcomes,” said Kinch. To address this, he and the Mojow team developed EYEBOX, a navigation kit that enables the autonomous operation of farm machinery. It is a series of sensors, cameras and a GPS unit linked together to process collected data in real time. While the equipment is in operation, EYEBOX automatically collects images captured by its cameras. These are then analyzed with the use of machine-learn- ing algorithms that classify each pixel to create or update a digital twin of the farm. This high-resolution representation acts as a map of the farm environment the system uses to guide its activities. “This all happens seamlessly,” said Kinch. “If it’s the first time in the field, it creates it as it goes. If it’s been in the field beforehand, it updates the existing images with any changes.” Once the digital twin is input into the navigation controllers, the tractor is able to carry out tasks that once required an operator. These include tillage, harrowing and land rolling. “Everything is controlled through an app, including the user inter- face for the Mojow navigation controller, cloud communication, local communica- tion with the tractor for close proximity and automatic synchronization between the cloud and local databases,” said Kinch. Last fall during a field day near Edmon- ton, the Mojow team successfully demon- strated their proof of concept. Outfitted with EYEBOX, and without prior knowl- edge of the field boundaries, a tractor autonomously navigated the terrain in real time. Mojow has since refined the system and carried out additional field testing this past spring. The team is also at work to perfect the system’s navigation ability on roadways and field entrances. “Ultimately, what we’re doing is build- ing those three key ingredients, so the tractor leaves the yard in the morning, navigates the roadways and field entrance into the field, completes the task and goes home at the end of the day,” said Kinch. Camera vision technology is used to nav- igate the tractor and control implement functions and the process is monitored and controlled from a mobile application on a phone or tablet. Kinch estimated EYEBOX is one to two years away from commercial availa- bility. He and his colleagues continued to validate and test it over the past growing season. RAVEN INDUSTRIES’ OMNiPOWER To address the shortage of skilled labour in agriculture, CAAIN also supports Ra- ven Industries as it works to put robots in the field. Marco Coppola is the company’s manager of business excellence. He and research engineer Joshua Friedrick led its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Development for Autonomous Agriculture Application The team at Mojow Autonomous Solutions developed EYEBOX, a navigation kit that allows the autonomous operation of farmmachinery. Photo:CourtesyofMojowAutonomousSolutions