Two Albuquerque-based tech startups, Terra Vera and Build With Robots, are blending biomimicry technology with high-tech automation and unveiling a world of limitless cross-industry potential.
The Advantages of Fogging | Terra Vera & Build With Robots
Tyanne Hawthorne | Build With Robots
Terra Vera is an agricultural tech company that helps farmers with integrated pest management (IPM) by creating activated amino acid pesticide and nutrient alternatives. Build With Robots, a robotics company that designs technology to improve indoor air quality and reduce the labor demands of disinfection is joining forces with Terra Vera to bring an innovative solution to the AgTech world.
Common Challenges of Manual Spraying
Both Terra Vera and Build With Robots have taken note of the limitations of manual spraying as a method of dispersing solutions.
“Spraying manually can lead to inconsistent coverage and can be labor intensive," says Carlos Perea, CEO of Terra Vera. "By automating the process of fogging our chemistry, we not only get more consistent results, we save the grower time and labor. This leads to healthier plants and better profits.”
Manual spraying crops commonly leads to missed spots, allowing diseases and pests to go untreated. In agriculture, this tends to be underneath plant leaves and root stalks. For creating healthy indoor spaces, these spots are often behind furniture or underneath flat surfaces. Additionally, with traditional spray methods, the solution particles are relatively large, hindering the range of coverage, and preventing the particles from drifting in the air. Compared to other chemical dispersal methods, spraying requires more labor to achieve thorough coverage.
How Fogging Technology Works
Fogging disperses solutions at a smaller particle size than spraying, less than 100 microns. Breezy Blue™, a high-tech fogger designed by Build With Robots, releases a dry fog with particles as small as 20 microns.
“We’ve known for a while that fogging is a quicker and much more effective method than spraying,” says Chris Ziomek, CEO of Build With Robots. “When Carlos Perea expressed a need for a device that disperses solutions evenly with less labor, I knew Breezy Blue would be a great fit.”
Unlike spraying, there is no need to wipe after fogging. Additionally, depending on the solution, Breezy Blue’s fogging technology has the ability to leave no residue, making it safe to use around electronics, papers, and other items that should not get wet.
Why Fog?
Fogging provides superior coverage compared to spraying and other methods. Many of the particles are too small to see, but with efficacy testing and particle sensors, it has been proven that solution fog gets all the hard-to-reach places, such as underneath the leaves of plants, between crevices, and more. Additionally, automated fogging with tools like Breezy Blue™ reduces the labor burden on workers. Rather than walking around and spraying, a person can simply press a button and leave Breezy Blue™ to do the work for them. This also takes the guesswork out of thorough application; high-tech tools are consistent and remove the risk of human error. Breezy Blue™ can be set to fog on a schedule, so no labor is needed other than initial setup and the occasional refilling of the unit with solution.
How Terra Vera & Build With Robots Work Together
As leaders in the Albuquerque start-up community, the partnership between Terra Vera and Build With Robots was bound to happen. While the partnership itself may have been anticipated, the compatibility of the companies’ goals and products has proven to be better than anyone expected.
“The team at Terra Vera are amazing to work with,” says Chris Ziomek. “We appreciate how they’ve shared Breezy Blue with their network, bringing our minibot to a new audience.”
“The best solutions often come from collaborations,” says Carlos Perea. “It has been a breeze to partner with Build With Robots. They know how to fog and that makes our solution even more valuable to our customers.”
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AgriTechTomorrow
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