MUSHROOMS
Mushrooms are fast growing and highly sensitive, thus they require close monitoring and precise picking.
Performing tasks at a specified time have a dramatic effect on the quality and the growth potential of a crop. Mushrooms are grown in special rooms with controlled temperature, ventilation and humidity.
The global increase in awareness of a healthy food has become an engine for growth in the mushroom market, which are considered a high quality meat substitute. Today, growing and picking mushrooms as a fresh product is done completely by manual labor. The sensitive nature and the current growing method are a major barrier that affects the quality of the mushroom, the yield per unit of land and the expenditure on labor
Precision in picking
A mushroom ripens within a few hours, picking it too early or too late may damage its quality. Working hours and the human factor limit the quality of the harvest or increase the labor expenses.
Crop efficiency
Imprecise timing in harvesting does not allow for a full utilization of the growth cycle potential.
Reduction of waste
Various studies following the waste of agricultural produce found that there is up to 19% of waste during harvesting of mushrooms.
Labor
In industrialized countries, the cost of employing professional mushrooms workers is about 40% of the farmer expenses.
Sanitation
Mushrooms are very sensitive to human contact. Any human entry into the growing area reduces the quality of the mushroom and consensually its price to the consumer.
The number of mushroom farms worldwide are constantly growing and are valued at more than 7 million square meters of growing beds.The market is growing at a rate of 9.5% and is expected to reach 60.1 $ billion by 2021.
GLOBAL MUSHROOM MARKET 2015-2021 (USD BILLION)
The global increase in awareness of a healthy food has become an engine for growth in the mushroom market, which are considered a high quality meat substitute.
ABOUT US
meshek{76}; is engaged in exploration, development and optimization of autonomous and sustainable agriculture.
The core technology stems from the ideological principles of open source and the fusion of high-end original development with various shelf products.
Using AI technologies and Big Data accumulated over time, we strive to implement a wide range of
comprehensive solutions for the automation in the production processes of greenhouse farming.
Ushering the next generation in agriculture, our systems will constantly increase efficiency and improve productivity, learning how to grow food with less waste and better quality, using maximum advantage of the growing areas while minimizing the use of resources.
Our mission is to free humanity from repetitive, manual and dangerous work by transferring the responsibility for managing food production, to coordinated, accurate and self-sustaining autonomous systems.
meshek{76}; is part of NVIDIA Inception program
for AI research and development.
{ THE CHALLENGE}
Agriculture Three D’s problem
In recent years, the lack of economic feasibility has led many farmers around the world to abandon crops that demand large-scale labor.
This leads the food market to a shortage of demanded produce and accordingly - an increase in consumer prices.
The growing need for food production is expected to increase by 70% until 2050.
According to UN estimates, the challenge of feeding the world's population in the coming decades requires the development of advanced systems for maximum utilization of cropland and productivity.
Yields of maize, rice, wheat, and soybean all need to increase by 60% until 2050. Parallel to the increase in population and the need to supply food for all the people, climate change reduces the open areas of cultivation, resulting in a constant decline in the supply of basic resources for food production.
There is a high rate of waste due to various faults and damages to the crop in the food production and supply chain.
The more developed the country, the more efficient its food production is, and the more waste it produces.
In Africa, food production, treatment and storage are deficient, compared to 95% of the market's output.
{THE SOLUTION}
AUTONMOUS FARMING
In recent years, modern agriculture has become rich in technology. The digitally controlled agricultural tools have been in constant use, from automated machines to advanced software systems technology has become a part of agriculture from planting to packaging.
PRECISION AGRICULTURE
Precision agriculture is an innovative approach that is gaining momentum among companies and farmers around the world.
The technology allows precision, accurately and efficiently with every single plant along the entire growth process.
ADVANTAGES OF AGRICULTURAL ROBOTS
Robots can work continuously, with high precision and in any weather. These are the reasons why the demand for agricultural robots is growing all over the world.
According to Tractica, the market for agricultural robots is expected to grow from $3 billion in 2015 to $16 billion in 2020 and to $74 billion in 2024 at an average annual rate of 43%.
{THE MARKET}
MUSHROOMS
Mushrooms are fast growing and highly sensitive, thus they require close monitoring and precise picking.
Performing tasks at a specified time have a dramatic effect on the quality and the growth potential of a crop. Mushrooms are grown in special rooms with controlled temperature, ventilation and humidity.
The global increase in awareness of a healthy food has become an engine for growth in the mushroom market, which are considered a high quality meat substitute. Today, growing and picking mushrooms as a fresh product is done completely by manual labor. The sensitive nature and the current growing method are a major barrier that affects the quality of the mushroom, the yield per unit of land and the expenditure on labor
Sanitation
Mushrooms are very sensitive to human contact. Any human entry into the growing area reduces the quality of the mushroom and consensually its price to the consumer.
Precision in picking
A mushroom ripens within a few hours, picking it too early or too late may damage its quality. Working hours and the human factor limit the quality of the harvest or increase the labor expenses.
Crop efficiency
Imprecise timing in harvesting does not allow for a full utilization of the growth cycle potential.
Reduction of waste
Various studies following the waste of agricultural produce found that there is up to 19% of waste during harvesting of mushrooms.
Labor
In industrialized countries, the cost of employing professional mushrooms workers is about 40% of the farmer expenses.
GLOBAL MUSHROOM MARKET 2015-2021 (USD BILLION)
The number of mushroom farms worldwide are constantly growing and are valued at more than 7 million square meters of growing beds.The market is growing at a rate of 9.5% and is expected to reach 60.1 $ billion by 2021.
The global increase in awareness of a healthy food has become an engine for growth in the mushroom market, which are considered a high quality meat substitute.
{THE PRODUCT}
The solution of Meshek 76
Autonomous robotic system for growing and picking mushrooms.
The system carries out the entire growing cycle of the mushrooms without any human intervention.
Array of cameras and sensors produces a real-time image that enables the system to make quick and precise decisions.
R.O.S based control system coordinates the various parts of the robot to work in synchronicity.
Data is stored in a repository that increases the efficiency and accuracy of the system over time.
FULL MANAGEMENT OF THE GROWTH PROTOCOL
Autonomous Mushroom Farm
CONTROL CENTER
The control center is the core of the system. The system receives processes and analyzes data from various sensors and manipulators.
By using dedicated algorithms, the system makes real-time decisions about how and when tasks are performed.
The system includes a set of cameras, laser scanners and sensors that regularly scan the growing beds. The cameras and sensors provide real-time 3D modeling for data analysis and decision making by the control center.
Using a unique image analysis algorithm developed in the company's laboratories, the system is able to locate the mushroom, identify its exact size and color, detect defects and perform a quantitative count - all according to the preset growing protocol.
SENSOR ARRAY AND DEPTH CAMERAS
DATABASE
The database collects all the information that comes from the system, and through deep learning, analyzes and draws conclusions. Over time, the system will become more productive with each robot as an individual and as well on the level of the entire farm.
ROBOTIC ARM AND GRIP
The robot is equipped with designated arms with 6DoF (degrees of freedom) that are capable of performing specific tasks during the growth cycle. Each arm has a tool stack, with a variety of grips for the various tasks. The robot independently selects the required grip, sends the arm to the cartridge, makes the switch and continues to operate the needed grip for the task.
{IN THE MEDIA}
The high tracks system is used for moving the robotic arms between the growing beds. The upper rail approach is a significant innovation that eliminates the need for human passageways and accordingly increases the size of the growth beds.
HIGH TRACKS
With the help of the accumulated data, the system is able to fully monitor
the environment and progress of the growth cycle in real time. A dedicated application and website will update the grower regularly by reports and alerts about the growth process. All the grower has to do is choose the growth protocol and the system will perform the entire process autonomously.
USER INTERFACE
{ROADMAP}
Building a prototype in the laboratory: integrating all the systems into an experimental growing bed
Running the system according to known protocols of mushroom cultivation
Achievement target results of identifying and picking mushrooms in laboratory conditions
User Interface Development
Establishment of a large data center
Establishment of an experimental mushroom farm
Initial product adaptation to standardization and production
{CAREER}
Job Description:
Maintenance and Expansion of Networks and Servers (Microsoft)
Office 365 cloud services management [...]
Job Description:
Computer Vision Development
Artificial Intelligence Development - DL \ ML [...]
Mechanical Engineer - full time
Job Description:
Characterization of customer needs
Creating and presenting engineering solutions in mechanical design and leading engineering projects. [...]
Programmer - full time
IT Manager - Part time
Software Engineer - full time
Job Description:
Development of autonomous systems
Interface development [...]
