Austin, Texas-based Revol Greens has chosen Blue Radix, an independent Dutch autonomous growing specialist, to provide technology services to all of its U.S.-based greenhouses.
Blue Radix will offer artificial intelligence technology and services for Revol Green’s daily greenhouse operations including climate control, irrigation and energy management. Revol Greens’ investment in AI technology will increase crop yield levels and reduce energy costs, furthering its mission to grow lettuce and greens in a sustainable way. The two companies started their cooperation in April.
“We are excited to use Blue Radix’s artificial intelligence tools to support our growers and optimize energy and climate control throughout our expanding network of greenhouse facilities,” said Mohammed Oufattole, Revol Greens CTO.
“With Blue Radix’s Crop Controller, we are continuously collecting and processing live data and using it for decision automation in ways far more efficient than humanly possible, giving growers the tools they need to maximize crop productivity while controlling energy costs.”
With Blue Radix’s Crop Controller, data is collected, structured and processed using algorithms to automate day-to-day decision making, continuously seeking ways to reduce costs and minimize risks. The “digital brain” will autonomously manage and stabilize Revol’s greenhouses climate conditions and optimize energy use, even in locations with harsh outside weather conditions such as at Revol Green’s Owatonna, Minnesota facility.
Autonomous growing for lettuce in commercial greenhouses
“We are very proud to be working with Revol Greens, one of the most forward-thinking lettuce companies in the U.S.,” said Ronald Hoek, CEO of Blue Radix. “We’re excited to see our Crop Controller algorithms in action to help them get the most out of each greenhouse and continue to scale their local greenhouses across the U.S.”
Blue Radix’s advanced AI technology will calculate the optimal greenhouse climate every five minutes using plant and climate sensors based on historical data and multi-day weather forecasts, giving Revol Greens more control over temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and required light levels in all their greenhouses.
Freedom to grow in different climate conditions
Revol Greens’ partnership with Blue Radix will allow Revol Greens to control production more precisely across multiple locations in Minnesota, California, Georgia and Texas.
“Lettuce and greens are more complex to grow indoors than most appreciate, especially when operating in different geographies where each variety may require different settings depending on the local outside weather conditions,” Oufattole said.
“Using Crop Controller we’re able to automate the climate decisions according to each lettuce variety and based on the facility’s local climate profile, allowing our expert growers to make production forecasts with more precision and deliver high quality, more consistent crops.”
Increased crop yield
“By partnering with Blue Radix to adopt autonomous growing we predict the ability to increase our production output while keeping our energy use and costs down,” said Michael Wainscott, CEO of Revol Greens.
“Revol Green’s ultimate goal is to make safe, sustainably grown greens accessible to all consumers. One of the ways we’ll achieve this is by adopting the most advanced greenhouse technology and growing methods in the industry.”
Blue Radix’s technology is used in Revol Greens’ facility in Owatonna, Minnesota, and is on track for further deployment in Tehachapi, California; Athens, Georgia; and Temple, Texas.
