Deere & Company is adding seven companies to its 2022 Startup Collaborator program. The startups are Burro, Crop.Zone, Four Growers, SeeDevice, Ucropit, ViewAR, and Yard Stick.
The year long program helps John Deere and the selected companies to test their technologies with customers and dealers without a more formal business relationship.
Startups also gain affiliation with and mentoring from a world-class leader in technology for agricultural and construction equipment.
“The expansion of this year’s collaborator program provides an opportunity for John Deere to work with this globally diverse group across a broad area of technology spaces while continuing to unlock value for our customers across multiple production systems,” said Michele Kaiser, business development manager for John Deere.
Burro Robotics makes collaborative and autonomous mobile robots capable of carrying payloads up to 187 lg (500 lbs). The Burro robots can identify obstacles (including humans) and avoid running into them.
The robots are controlled via the onboard user interface, or via a smartphone or tablet.
The Burro has a variety of control modes including:
- “Follow person” mode
- “Follow row” mode
- “Scout a row” mode
- Goto a specific location (to pick up or drop off something).