NEWS: Olin Wins Grand Prize at the 2024 Farm Robotics Challenge
Olin students design high-tech solutions to solve real-world farming challenges.
A design team from Olin College of Engineering and their robot, the “PhoenixBot,” have won the $10,000 grand prize in the second annual Farm Robotics Challenge. The award was announced on Oct. 24 during a ceremony at the FIRA USA robotics conference in Woodland, Calif.
Kenechukwu Mbanisi, assistant professor of robotics engineering, and team advisor, is shown at the podium accepting the prize on behalf of the Olin team at the FIRA USA Conference in Woodland. Photo by Evett Kilmartin.
A total of nine teams representing various universities and colleges across the U.S. competed in the challenge, organized by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources and the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS), with support from technology partner farm-ng.
During the yearlong contest, the student teams engaged with growers about their pain points and challenges and then developed creative solutions using the farm-ng Amiga robot platform. The student teams leveraged AI, machine learning, automation, coding and fabrication to advance innovation in agriculture.
The Olin team collaborated with farmers at The Trustees’ Powisset Farm, a working community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm with over 300 years of agricultural history in Dover, Mass. After meeting with the farmers, touring the farm and learning about their needs, the students developed a robot that autonomously navigates and weeds row-crop fields with minimal soil disturbance to protect soil health, in what is universally a time-consuming and labor-intensive task on farms of Powisset’s size.
The Phoenix Bot team from Olin College of Engineering have won the Farm Robotics Challenge Grand Prize.
As part of the competition, the Olin team produced a video documenting and explaining their work, and featuring collaborating Powisset farmers Tim Laird and Aubrey Dority. Watch the video to learn more about the PhoenixBot.
“It's wonderful to see Olin College celebrated on a national stage for excellent engineering work,” said Kenechucwu “Kene” Mbanisi, Assistant Professor of Robotics Engineering and PhoenixBot team advisor.
“It's inspiring to see the creativity and dedication of these students, who put in a lot of hard work and long hours to pull together some truly remarkable projects for this competition,” said Gabriel Youtsey, chief innovation officer at UC ANR. “We hope the challenge attracts more students to consider careers in agriculture; we're here to help build a supportive community to grow that pipeline to the workforce.”
Providing a platform for students to demonstrate innovative design, field testing and evaluation, and real-world problem solving, the Farm Robotics Challenge is sponsored by F3 Innovate, Beck's Hybrids, California Tomato Research Institute and the United Soybean Board.
“It's a great day when engineers, marketing and technology folks understand there are great opportunities to create products for American farmers,” said Brad Fruth, director of innovation at Beck's Hybrids. “It has been exciting for Beck's Hybrids to participate in this challenge and see the bleeding edge of where technology and agriculture converge.”
“Not only does the challenge demonstrate the future of farming with robotics, but it's also encouraging the next generation of engineers to focus their talents on the challenges that exist in growing our food,” said Brendan Dowdle, CEO of farm-ng.
“The students who participate have a unique mix of skills in robotics, software and a passion for the future of agriculture.”
About Olin College of Engineering
Founded in 1997, Olin instills passion and ignites innovation in its students and prepares them to envision, create and deliver products, services, and systems that transform and improve people’s lives around the world. Olin teaches students to be explorers and creators who design their own path forward. By challenging norms and sharing its unique approach to education, Olin is revolutionizing the way engineers, and all undergraduates, learn and create knowledge. Located in Needham Massachusetts, Olin is ranked among the top-three undergraduate engineering programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report. Learn more at Olin.edu.
