Meeting Notes - David Tao, BHF Solutions - February 21st, 2025
New Members:
JP Smmaoury – Trimble
Bill Gunter - System Design Concepts
Joe Troutman - System Design Concepts
New members, please be prepared to briefly introduce yourselves and touch on why you joined the group.
Presentations:
Speaker: David Tao
Company: BH Frontier Solutions
Subject: BHF Electric weeder: Zap your weeds with 100kW of electricity
Conferences/Meetings/Field Tours/Demonstrations
· Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention – Niagara Falls, ON - February 19-20, 2025. https://www.ofvc.ca/
· London Farm Show – London, ON – March 5-7, 2025. https://www.londonfarmshow.com/
· Ottawa Valley Farm Show – Ottawa, ON – March 11-13, 2025. https://ottawafarmshow.com/
· Grand River Agricultural Society Spark V4 Symposium – April 15, 2025. https://gras.blitzen.com/form/SPARK-V4?_kx=gv4KhsjF7Taf829EsAP_FBSQc6SwAbP_wM0LpF8ox-PLjhd-etCIX4l20HUQLINo.UUrNv6
· AgRobotics Working Group Demo Day – Bradford Research Station – July 8, 2025. Registration details to come
· AgRobotics Working Group Demo Day – Simcoe Research Station – July 22, 2025. Registration details to come
Attendees at recent conferences, please be prepared to provide a brief update to the group.
Project Updates
· Call for speakers/presentations – If you are interested in giving a presentation or have a recommendation of someone who you think would be a valuable speaker, please email Dan or Bridget.
· We have created a LinkedIn group to connect with each other outside of the structure of the weekly meetings. You can find the group at this link here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/10060197/ . Membership will be strictly enforced so that only members of the working group will be granted access.
Action Items From Previous Meeting(s)
· Please check your email for our survey regarding consent to share contact information
Job Board
If you know of any job opportunities, please send the information to us so that we can add them on our website at the below link.
https://www.agroboticswg.com/job-board
Funding Announcements/Opportunities –
· Canada Business App https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en/canada-business-app
· Canadian Agricultural Strategic Priorities Program https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/programs/canadian-agricultural-strategic-priorities - Open until March 2029
· COLLABORATE 2 COMMERCIALIZE https://www.oc-innovation.ca/programs/collaborate-2-commercialize/ - Ongoing
· Agri-Innovate - AgriInnovate Program: Step 1. What this program offers - agriculture.canada.ca - Open until March 2028
· OMAFRA/SCAP Funding Announcement and Program Details Link - Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership | ontario.ca - Open until March 2028
· The Grow Ontario Accelerator Hub : Bioenterprise - Open until March 10
· OCI Critical Industrial Technologies Initiative - https://www.oc-innovation.ca/programs/cit/ - Ongoing
· CAAIN Open Competition - https://caain.ca/funding-calls/2024-open-competition/ - Open Intake
· TCS Canadian Technology Accelerator delegation to BEYOND2025 in Macau - https://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/cta-atc/macao-entertainment-technology_technologies-divertissement-macao.aspx?lang=eng - Deadline March 31, 2025
· FoodTech Next Program – Program Guide – Intake opens February 24, Deadline May 26, 2025
Round Table
Other Items/Articles
Technology Key To Improving Canada’s Food Security, Says U of G Dean
Abu Dhabi-developed AI robot automates strawberry harvesting with precision
Carbon Robotics Introduces Faster, Lighter and Modular LaserWeeder G2 Product Line
Robotics Plus unveils new multi-use autonomous vehicle for agriculture
Meeting recordings will be posted to our website approximately 4 weeks later. https://www.agroboticswg.com/meetings