Robots

Q&A

• Q: How is it charged?

  A: Burros feature on-board chargers that can be plugged directly into the wall. Each charger pulls up to 3.7 amps at 120V, meaning that a regular 20amp outlet can support 4 Burros (see table below). Batteries can also be swapped in field in 3 minutes without any tools.
  

• Q: How much range does it have?

  A: Range is a function of load, speed, terrain, and temperature. In real world testing, our batteries can yield 7 to 8 miles of range while running 2 miles per hour and loaded 50% of the time, with an average load of around 240 pounds.

  For growers who need more range, we can offer higher cost batteries in different chemistries, or users can swap batteries over the course of their use.

• Q: How many does burro’s crew need?

  A: In Table Grape production one Burro can support up to 6 to 8 people working (2-3 packers, 4-6 pickers) depending on crew layout, crop load, and picker speed. You can download this excel model to make different assumptions.

• Q: How should I arrange my crew and my vineyard to let Burros work Well?

  A: See this video which runs through things you can do to help Burros run smoothly. In short, relatively clean rows without too many weeds or vines hanging down, push packing tables to the opposite row and pick out full rows so that Burros can enter/exit easily, and train your crews so they understand how best to use Burro.

  The images below illustrate how we see table grape growers laying out their harvesting crews on top, and the optimal way we have observed to harvest with Burros below.

  Setup 1: 6-8 people / Burro in a group

  • videos here, here, and here
  • Totes are ID’ed with no leaf, one leaf, dried leaf or a stick
  • Users become a group, and are responsible for operating Burros, but teams remain
  • Consistent gains (20-30% gains across 6-8 people)

  

  Central Field Pack

  • Pack team is a production line with the process of packing broken down
  • Pickers pick field totes and scan them onto Burro (video here); data goes online for management
  • People paid individually for performance
  • 30-50% gains across 6-8 people / robot, with much better QC

  

• Q: What is the payback on burro?

  A: You can download this excel model which runs through productivity levels the Augean Robotics team has observed while testing with the California Table Grape Commission. In the optimal scenario for Burro, the productivity gains that have been observed through testing should yield a 24 day ROI.

• Q: What safety standards apply to burro?

  A: See this paper which runs through the safety we have designed into our product.