Cover Story CARBON ROBOTICS:
10 BILLION WEEDS KILLED Founder and CEO Paul Mikesell on Why AI Is the Next Frontier for Agtech By Michelle Rivera, Senior Manager, Communications
The idea of artificial intelligence (AI) is extremely polarizing - for some, the possibilities of AI are exciting and endless; others worry about the profound effects AI could have on society, the economy and, well, humanity. Paul Mikesell, Founder and CEO of Carbon Robotics, best known for the LaserWeeder, says his company exemplifies how AI can be harnessed to make a positive impact. “We’re in one of the areas in AI where it’s completely non- controversial,” he said. “We’re not influencing people, and we’re not generating, you know, deepfake videos. We’re just finding weeds and killing them.” Carbon Robotics’ intentions and groundbreaking achievements haven’t gone unnoticed. In May the Seattle-based company secured an investment from NVentures, the venture capital arm of NVIDIA—a world leader in accelerated computing and AI. Mikesell said the two companies came together at FIRA USA in Salinas, Calif. last year, where the NVentures team met with Carbon Robotics’ grower clients and observed robots in the field.
“The NVIDIA name is exciting. The fact that the heads of the NVentures group were willing to take a whole day, get actively engaged and come visit robots with us impressed me,” Mikesell said. Carbon Robotics launched its Autonomous LaserWeeder in the spring of 2021, which combines computer vision, AI deep learning technology, robotics and lasers to identify and eliminate weeds. The LaserWeeder uses 24 NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) to process 4.7 million high-resolution images per hour, offering rapid plant detection and identification. The lasers can target and destroy up to 5,000 weeds per minute, according to the company. “In the last few years, AI has exploded, and NVIDIA GPUs are essential for building AI models,” said Mikesell. “Our robots are full of AI systems, and we use a lot of NVIDIA GPUs. NVentures is always looking for areas in which their GPUs can be put to good use.” The investment money will help Carbon Robotics in a number of ways, one of which will go toward continued
Photo by Amy Wellenkamp
15 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com July | August 2024
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