LX wins prestigious BRII Grant program with Revolutionary Spray Advisory System

Maverick Spray Advisory for Tackling Agricultural Spray Drift is a winner for 2021 Grant Application

Introduction to the BRII challenge – Looking for an Agricultural Spray Advisory Solution

Back in September 2020, LX Design House submitted an initial proposal for the BRII Challenge (Business Research and Innovation Initiative) administered by the CRDC (Cotton Research and Development Corporation), posed to seek technology solutions to revolutionise Agricultural Spraying processes and reduce the issue of Spray Drift.

Spray Drift can occur where a pesticide or other chemical is sprayed from a machine when conditions are less than favourable. There are a number of parameters that can affect this, from the wind speed and direction, to the type of nozzle used on the spray rig, to the height of the ‘boom’ arms that extend out to disseminate the chemical.

With so many variables, both fixed and fluid, that can change across the course of a spraying process, it can be incredibly challenging to get this process perfect. Imperfect spraying can lead to volatilisation of the chemical and subsequent drift of these chemicals in weather systems that can carry it far off course. These systems can then deposit it into other more sensitive crops areas, particularly those like cotton, as well as local waterways and ecosystems and onto suburban and rural communities.

These environmental impacts, combined with the risk of litigation for the farmer, the loss of efficacy and the resulting increased costs for chemicals, mean there are myriad drivers to wanting a solution for this issue. However current attempts to tackle the issue of Spray drift have often centred on education which can be contradictory or overwhelming for the end user. Any tools available to help farmers plan more effectively may deal with improving efficacy or reducing drift, but not both.

Similarly the data sources available to farmers to help assess variables for spray windows are disparate, complex and are only available for pre-planning purposes. So if conditions change in a variable mid spraying that cannot be tracked easily by visual observation, the likelihood is that the operator will continue spraying in unfavourable conditions.

The LX Product Design Process

The above observations were gleaned from an in depth research and discovery process, similar to the client discovery processes and workshops we run with any of our Design House clients.

Taking experience and knowledge gained from full stack development across multiple industries, including AgTech Product Development, we knew that understanding the end user in this instance would determine how successful any end product would be. To tackle the issue of Agricultural Spray drift, we knew from interviews and discovery sessions that any proposed solution would need to have the following characteristics:

Aim to not only tackle the issue of spray drift but also try to improve efficacy and accuracy for the operator to help drive operational efficiencies/savings.
Be easy to install, deploy and use. Farmers are comfortable using complex equipment and systems in modern day farming, but any solution that sought to encourage uptake shouldn’t take more time or effort than the processes it claims to improve on.
Be machinery agnostic or allow for differing entry levels. We knew that a solution needed to be accessible to differing income levels and access to resources. If a product or solution was cost prohibitive we do it would not achieve adoption at the scale required to have a significant impact on the industry and the issue of Spray Drift.
Be managed as a full stack design project. This was an internal direction, based on the requirement to give the end user a remarkable experience that achieved the 3 prior goals. Whilst the product design process would ultimately end up drawing on third party data sources and some existing products, we wanted to ensure that everything from the electronic hardware through to the apps and reporting dashboards followed the same LX Design Principles and was power efficient, long lasting and easy to use.

By combining these key goals and drawing on our team’s expertise in system architecture and low power IoT and Electronic product development, we created our proposed solution.

Maverick by LX: Spray Drift Advisory System (BRII 2021 Solution) from LX Marketing on Vimeo.

Introducing Maverick: An Agricultural Spray Advisory System

Our proposed solution takes a specific configuration of our IoT static sensing and tracking products as well as specially designed software to create a system that helps operators with the entirety of the spray application process. From planning for the most effective spray windows, to mid process alerts and updates on key variables, to post spray analysis and learning materials, we want to give farmers the ability to increase effectiveness over time and receive real-time alerts that help them data informed decisions as they’re spraying.

Maverick provides a tiered entry system for farmers, so regardless of their investment capability, they are able to access the system and start seeing tangible results. At its most advanced level, Maverick is able to open up spray windows to operators that would not previously have been available, so the most sophisticated operators have access to higher level risk calculations underpinned by more data points and real time alerts.

The name Maverick is fitting, as we’re wanting to give operators the ability to push the envelope and have more choice around spraying rather than less, but we’re ensuring those choices are backed by a wealth of data. And whilst we cannot disclose too much about how the solution works at this stage, we’re looking forward to launching Maverick in the near future and sharing more with you when we can!

The Process & Next Steps From Here

From over 20 different Australian companies that initially applied to the BRII & CRDC Revolutionising Spray Drift Challenge, LX was successful in being selected as one of the final six.

The next stages were a video presentation, feasibility study and Proof of Concept application. We are incredibly proud of the hard work and effort the LX team of engineers, software developers, sales and marketing professionals and support staff put into this process. Over 4 months, we developed a system we truly believe has the ability to affect large scale change in this industry.

We are beyond honoured to have had the opportunity to go through this process and to be selected as winners of the BRII Grant 2021 is amazing! Congrats to the LX Team!

The next steps from here are delivering on the proof of concept prototype and final product for our agricultural spray advisory system, and executing our commercialisation plan. Whilst we can’t give too much away about the solution itself right now, we’ll be providing updates as we go, so please sign up to our Newsletter at the form below if you’d like to be kept in the loop!

The statement “we’re on the brink of a revolution” typically induces an eye rolling response. The phrase has been bandied around by just about every marketing company which, frankly, makes it sound boring. Furthermore, if anything genuinely ‘revolutionary’ was imminent for humanity, surely we’d know all about it? Well, not necessarily, and for those unaware: we really are on the brink of a revolution.

This particular revolution comes in the form of a very tangible technological transition referred to as ‘the Internet of Things’ (IoT). The phrase was coined in 1999 by Kevin Ashton, a tech guru hailing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). ‘Things’ in this instance refers to day-to-day material objects and devices which historically have not been connected to the Internet. But we are now entering an age where everything is connected via the Internet, rather than just the varying types of computers that we are used to. This is the IoT revolution, and in this article we’re going to take a look at the ramifications therein.

How Does It Work?

‘Wirelessly’ is the short answer to that question. Wireless technology is advancing and being adopted at an incredible pace, and organisations such as ABI Research estimate over 5 billion wireless chips will ship in 2013. In addition to the kind of wireless chips which might be used for WiFi connection, other technologies are also on the rise including radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, improved Bluetooth, ZigBee, and plenty more besides.

With this relatively inexpensive method of information transfer in place, the next element of the Internet of Things is sensors. If everything from temperature readings, to the contents of your stomach (more on this later), to geolocation of just-about-anything, to pollution levels, can be measured and reported on, the potential is genuinely limitless.

Is It Too Early to Start Getting Excited?

It’s easy to see many products incorporating aspects of this technology even today. One better-known example would be the Nike+ System which records and monitors your workout data with sensors installed in trainers. Earlier this year, President and COO of KORE Telematics, Alex Brisbourne had an article published in Forbes also pointing out that the Internet of Things isn’t such a new concept when you consider that telemetry systems such as those used in black box airplane recorders, and homing devices, have been around for a long time.

However, many respectable organisations and forecasters believe 2013 will be the year of IoT, and MIT is counted among them. For example, while the Google Glass reality augmentation headset is being met with considerable scepticism, a story in the Washington Post suggests that the product could offer an ideal method to control, manage and interact with various IoT objects with the necessary wireless communication hardware installed.

A Day in the Life of the Internet of Things

Whether your interest in the IoT stems from a business profit perspective or more of a geeky tech enthusiast angle, the ramifications are as significant as they are exciting. A simple example might be if you had an early flight to catch, let’s say you’re taking a two-week holiday. Your smart phone would communicate with the airport timetable and be aware of any changes to the flight times, and this information would be shared with your local IoT. You would be automatically woken up in good time to make the airport, and your electronic appliances that had automatically activated early would switch to energy-saving holiday mode once they detected that you had left the house. Your vehicle navigation would determine the best route to take based on real time information from traffic and weather sensors, and would guide you to the closest or lowest cost vacant parking space when you reached the airport. While on holiday similar interactions with your accommodation environment would ensure a comfortable, effortless and energy efficient experience. Then on your return the process would reverse, your household appliances would be informed of your schedule and activate in advance so you returned to a warm and organised house.

Examples Pending Release

Naturally, as this revolution has been unfolding, so has a race between commercial technology companies. Some great examples include

A digestible sensor which stays in your stomach and communicates optimal timings for consumption of prescribed medicines – Source

A baby monitoring garment to make sure we know what’s going on with our toddlers when we’re not around – Source

Significantly improved energy efficiency (the world over) – Source

Monitoring the successful growth of plants, both commercially and domestically – Source

Finding parking spaces in heavily congested cities more easily – Source

It’s an exciting time and IoT technology may genuinely revolutionise humanity. Ideally, it will greatly support reductions in energy consumption and consequently global warming, plus it has the potential to increase human productivity and quality of life in hundreds of ways that we haven’t even thought of yet.