Experts Dish on the Future of Autonomous Greenhouses

Posted by Brian Sparks|August 20, 2020

Team Sonoma from Microsoft Research's autonomous greenhouse

Microsoft Research’s Kenneth Tran (second from left) led Team Sonoma, which won the first International Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge by successfully growing greenhouse cucumbers in the Netherlands for four months while operating remotely from Redmond, WA.

Autonomous greenhouses have been making headlines lately due to the recent Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge. Based on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in a controlled environment, the concept will become critical for the future development of new technologies.

HortAmericas is hosting a webinar Sept. 10 that will dig deeper into the topic, including identifying research and development needs. Speakers include:

Ken Tran, Chief Technology Officer at Koidra, who was a Principal Applied Scientist in the Machine Learning Group, Microsoft Research (MSR). While at MSR, he led the Sonoma team that won the 2018 Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge, becoming the only AI team that outperformed expert Dutch growers, with 17% higher net profit.
Chieri Kubota, Professor at The Ohio State University, who focuses on controlled environment agriculture plant production systems.
Chris Higgins, President and General Manager of HortAmericas, a wholesale supply company servicing all aspects of the commercial horticulture industries.

Learn more about the webinar here.