Hardware Podcasts

Doing the bees’ work with Thai Sade of BloomX

How I Built This · 18 Jan 2024 · 32m

AI in practice: one real use of AI described

What this episode covers

Thai Sade, co-founder and CEO of BloomX, explains how his company uses robotics and AI to enhance crop pollination, addressing the decline of bee populations and the need for higher agricultural yields. He details the development of two main technologies: the Burrow, an autonomous vehicle that vibrates blueberry flowers to release pollen, and the Crosby, a manual electrostatic tool for transferring sticky pollen in crops like avocados. Sade discusses the company's validation process in Latin America, its $8 million in funding, and how increasing yield per hectare can help prevent rainforest deforestation.

AI in practice

Where this conversation describes AI being used to build or deliver a product. Part of the AI in practice tracker.

Engineering & simulationBloomX algorithm10 to 40% yield increase

An algorithm analyzes real-time environmental conditions to determine the optimal pollination window for specific crops, allowing the company to predict when pollen is most receptive.

“We have an algorithm that allows us to understand how environmental conditions affect the flying behavior, for every crop that we are working on, that give us the right pollination window to pollinate, and create a focus of the pollynesian season based on real-time environmental conditions that we have in the field.”

Thai Sade · Hear it at 15:49

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
BloomX, Netafim, U.S. Bank
Products
Burrow, Crosby
Also
Thai Sade

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