Cyberworks Robotics, in partnership with FRAMOS, Intel® RealSense™ technology, AWS Fleet Management, and Fernlea Flower, are happy to announce the new Self-Driving Add-On Platform that can be applied to existing agriculture electric tow-tugs.
Cyberworks’ Self-Driving Add-On Platform has been adapted to existing agricultural electric tow-tugs to allow for complete driverless operation, without the addition of new infrastructure or fixed tracks. It operates indoors, outdoors and on rough terrain. It is now available as a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform to reduce barriers to industry adoption. It features a complete Cloud based Graphical Fleet Management System for automated scheduling and remote access from any internet enabled device anywhere in the world. It represents the world’s first add-on kit for third-party agricultural electric tractor-tugs that can operate without fixed infrastructure, unlike any self-driving technology currently in the industry.
Some of the primary benefits include:
• Elimination of tractor-tug driver labor cost
• Reduced overhead, attrition, and training costs
• Reduced staff density and physical distancing in greenhouse operations
• Increased operational efficiencies and product throughput
Vivek Burhanpurkar, CEO at Cyberworks states: Industrial Greenhouses can immediately automate their existing manually driven tractor-tugs on a pay-as-you-go SaaS business model with minimal upfront expense and disruption to existing operations, at a fraction of their present operating costs. Cyberworks Robotics brings self-driving technology off the streets and into mainstream industrial applications that will revolutionize the agricultural sector as well as many others from airports to hospitals to schools.
One of the key successes of this venture was the strong partnership that was created between all parties involved. FRAMOS was a unique partner who brought not only vision knowledge but industry experience to the mix while being a key supplier and distributor of Intel® RealSense™ depth products. They were valuable in answering questions and addressing issues that arose during the development while working very closely with Intel® team to provide key software updates.
Intel® RealSense™ technology, for their part, provided state-of-the-art components including high-performance onboard computing and 3D vision sensing that was needed in delivering the depth data for the system to navigate and avoid obstacles. This was combined with real-time self-diagnosis and cloud-based fleet management and routing, provided by AWS, to round out the product offering.
Sarah Wu, Business Development Manager at FRAMOS, points out that “… this was a strong collaboration between Cyberworks Robotics, FRAMOS and Intel®. Any issues that were discovered during development and prototyping were quickly identified and addressed. It was this strong partnership that helped make this project so successful.”
These sentiments were further echoed by Joel Hagberg, head of product management and marketing, Intel RealSense Group, "Intel® RealSense™ technology is used to develop products that enrich people's lives by enabling machines and devices to perceive the world in 3D. We are excited to collaborate with FRAMOS in the development of Cyberworks’ Self-Driving Add-On Platform that enables driverless operation and creates a safe working environment for agricultural workers.”
Fernlea Flowers is one of the first customers to benefit from this new technology. Agricultural logistics is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Transport of agri-products has been severely hampered by COVID-19 related supply chain disruptions. This technology keeps Fernlea Flowers’ staff safe by maintaining social distancing while increasing production yields.
Availability and further information
Burhanpurkar mentioned that this new product addresses several markets including: Agriculture, Industrial Greenhouses, Airports, Hospitals, Warehouses, Data Centers, and Retail Outlets by leveraging existing motorized vehicles to add self-driving capabilities.
The Cyberworks Robotics Self-Driving Add-On product is currently available for any motorized mobile device. More information about this product is available here.
The industry and product experts at FRAMOS are available to support customers with the integration of Intel® Realsense™ depth cameras into their applications and projects. In addition, FRAMOS provides a broad range of support services for development, customization, and sensor logistics.
