description
- Since the first known examples of grain storage dating back to ~11,000 years ago in the Jordan valley, the process of storing grain (e.g. whole wheat/barley/oilseeds in sheds and silos) has been a critical part of the agriculture industry, essential to preserving the grain's quality and value, as well as to bridge the gap between harvest and its subsequent use. There is an unmet need in the grain storage industry to reduce mass and quality losses (\\\>20%) and improve the health and safety of grain storage operations, as farmers and grain storage operators are still forced to walk on dangerous grain bulks to collect grain samples. The objective of this project is to create the first commercial robotic device able to safely and autonomously collect physical samples from grain bulks at various points and depths, while the grain is still idle in storage and/or large transportation units (e.g. cargoes), where existing methods cannot. While current grain sampling solutions that can only reach near the surface pose a safety hazard to operators collecting the samples, Crover's remote probing device will be able to collect samples throughout the whole shed/silo/truck/cargo. This will provide farmers, grain storage operators, traders and transportation companies with a tool to obtain highly representative and verified samples at different points within grain bulks, hence enabling them to reduce grain claims/rejection, improve the health and safety of their operations, detect potential spoilage, and allowing proactive management to reduce losses and maintain grain quality. The project is made possible by Crover's proprietary technology for locomotion in bulk solids (e.g. sand, grains, powders) and it is based around the CROVER robot: the world's first 'granular drone', in the sense of a device able to move through bulk solids and powders.