The Iron Ox autonomous

Silicon Valley-based agtech startup Iron Ox operates farms in California and will soon begin selling crops from its new 535,000-square-foot indoor farm in Texas. The company has had a standout quarter through the end of 2021, including a $53 million Series C round of funding and the launch of TWO new farm robots as it enters what it calls hyper-growth mode.

Unlike vertical farms, Iron Ox grows crops under natural sunlight, the company is focusing on artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision and robotics to optimize production. This allows the company to produce more from less, with its greenhouses claiming to produce 30 times more crops per hectare than conventional farming and the process using 90% less water. Its robots care for a wide variety of crops, from strawberry varieties to tomatoes and leafy greens.

Grover – the autonomous module handler

In November, Iron Ox unveiled an autonomous robot called Grover, which can lift more than 1,000 pounds thanks to its unique tilting suspension and motors. Grover moves hydroponically fed 6 x 6-foot modules of plants around the greenhouse while helping to monitor, water and harvest crops.

Grover uses a differential drive system, multiple LiDAR systems, upward and forward facing camera systems. The modules are regularly delivered by the Grover to a scanning booth for inspection, and based on the results, are further irrigated, nutrient fertilized or harvested.
The design and build of the Gover was a complex, multi-year project that solved many challenges in hardware, software, autonomy and mobility. To do this, we assembled a world-class team, says Sarah Osentoski, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Iron Ox. Our goal is for Iron Ox to become a center of excellence in agriculture with core competencies in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Phil – the forage monitoring robot

This week, Iron Ox added Phil as a companion to its Grover robot. Phil is a robot that uses state-of-the-art sensor technology to monitor the water, nutrient mix and pH levels of each crop module on the farm.

Phil provides Iron Ox plant scientists with nutrient and pH level data to make informed decisions and give plants exactly what they need. The forage monitoring robot is also equipped with ultraviolet LEDs for fast and efficient disinfection without waste production.

The smart thing about Phil is that we can set each of the thousands of modules in our Texas greenhouse to grow the same and/or different plants under different nutrient profiles, which in our controlled environment quickly accelerates our understanding of plant science, says Brandon Alexander, CEO of Iron Ox.

Not only does this allow our growing team to optimize market needs while giving each plant exactly what it needs – eliminating waste – but ultimately this knowledge can and will benefit the entire industry.

How Grover and Phil work together

Grover brings in and delivers a 6 x 6 foot plant module and docks with Phil. Phil then uses his advanced sensors to hygienically fill the module to the exact volume and nutrient mix needed. Phil can fill each 6 x 6-foot plant module in less than two minutes.

Once the filled module is complete (weighing 1,000 pounds each), it is ready for Grover to deliver to its destination. Iron Ox likens the link between the two robots to a Formula 1 pit stop.

The addition of Phil allows the plant modules to move through the process quickly in an efficient and food-safe process, says Osentoski, with Phil’s advanced sensors providing valuable information to the teams of plant and data scientists to optimize the entire closed-loop system of Iron Ox’s greenhouses.

Grover also brings Phil’s modules in for sanitary inspections during each plant module’s growth cycle. Phil first takes a small sample of the water and nutrient mix. This sample is placed in a container equipped with sensors that measure the nutrient content and pH of the module. Iron Ox’s plant science team uses this data to understand how and at what rate the plants consume water and nutrients.

Phil then senses the water level and adjusts it to the target settings. Another sample is taken for validation. When Phil is done with his work, Grover moves the plant module back to its proper location in the greenhouse.

Hypergrowth Mode

The Iron Ox’s $53 million Series C financing round this fall was led by new investor Breakthrough Energy Ventures, an investment group backed by many of the world’s top business leaders with a goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Iron Ox is using this latest round of funding to expand its portfolio of intellectual property in robotics and artificial intelligence.