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- 🤖 A.I. lasers and the city of the future
Good morning and welcome to the latest edition of neonpulse!
In today’s issue we’re highlighting the use of new A.I. tech in the worlds of agriculture and architecture.
Enjoy!
The future of weed control
One of the most challenging aspects of large scale farming is weed management, as weeds compete with crops for space, nutrients, and water.
In order to manage weeds, farmers have traditionally sprayed their entire fields with herbicides, yet a new spraying system developed by the John Deere company leverages A.I. to directly target weeds, reducing the amount of pesticides required by 66%.
John Deer Smart Sprayer
John Deere’s next-gen sprayers are fitted with 36 cameras linked to an A.I. image recognition software that has been trained on more than 300,000 images, allowing the system to directly target invasive plant species.
"Our system is capturing 1.2 billion pixels per second, so it’s seeing and processing a lot," said Ms. Kovar, VP of Production and Precision Agriculture Production Systems at John Deere.
These “smart sprayers” are not cheap, often in the $250,000 range, but because of the significant reduction in the amount of herbicide used, the payback period for the equipment is typically only 24 to 36 months.
And while cutting back harmful pesticide use by 66% is a dramatic improvement, with more consumers seeking organic foods free from pesticide contamination, Seattle based Carbon Robotics has developed a solution that is able to replace herbicide use entirely.
The LaserWeeder
Featuring high-powered thermal lasers, the Carbon Robotics LaserWeeder detects weeds with A.I. enabled cameras, zapping and destroying the weeds instantly without requiring the use of any toxic chemicals.
The laser weeding system has a number of benefits over traditional herbicides, including increased crop yield and quality, improved soil health, and a significant cost reduction when compared to traditional methods.
The response from the farming community has been strong, and Carbon Robotics is working hard to keep up with demand for the systems.
“Laser weeding is a breakthrough approach and delivers benefits that are an order of magnitude better than existing solutions,” said Matt McGuire, general manager at JV Farms. “This technology is revolutionizing how we handle weeding, bringing dependability, speed and accuracy to our farming practices.”
The LaserWeeder currently works on over 40 types of crops, and deep learning models are being added for new crops on a regular basis.
You can learn more about the LaserWeeder on their site here.
A.I. urban planning
As the world population continues to grow, and with the U.N. projecting that 68% of people will be living in cities by the year 2050, urban designers have started turning to A.I. to help design the much-needed cities of the future.
“The population growth in the world is huge, and everyone’s moving to cities,” said Spacemaker CTO Carl Christensen. “We’re building the equivalent of a city the size of Paris each week. And it will go on for the foreseeable future, for the next 20 to 30 years.”
To help keep up with the growth, architects, developers, and urban planners have turned to A.I. tools like Spacemaker to navigate the challenges of designing dense urban centers, ensuring that future projects support healthy communities while minimizing their impact on the environment.
Spacemaker Platform
While designing residential structures, for example, architects can optimize building designs for natural light, views, and energy use, while at the same time ensuring that the city-level layout allows residents to conveniently walk or cycle to amenities like cafes and public transportation.
Rødovre (one of the most densely populated areas in Denmark) is currently using Spacemaker for three new urban redevelopment projects, and beyond helping with design considerations, the cloud based system has helped align all of the stakeholders on the project.
“Municipal urban development is a complex process that takes place in close cooperation with politicians, developers, external consultants and other partners. Spacemaker makes it easy to visualize what is possible, enabling stakeholders to make key decisions faster,” said Jesper Pagh, the municipalities lead architect.
Spacemaker Energy Analysis
And with environmental considerations at the front of everyone’s mind, Spacemaker helps architects optimize a buildings geometry, window-to-wall ratio, and wall construction types in order to make the structure as energy efficient as possible.
“We believe sustainable design is a necessity, not an option. Spacemaker’s operational energy analysis tool allows our designers to better understand the implications of their designs, helping to make sustainable design more accessible, “ said Pablo La Roche, Design lead at CallisonRTKL.
You can learn more about Spacemaker here.
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And now your moment of zen
That’s all for today folks!
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