An equipment operator uses the Vulcan human machine interface (HMI), designed by ZeroSixty for the agricultural equipment manufacturer FarmWise. (Image: PRNewswire-PRWeb)
The design studio was honored in the Artificial Intelligence category for its work for FarmWise.
LONDON—Design firm ZeroSixty was recognized recently for its work in designing the human-machine interface (HMI) for Vulcan, the intelligent farming machinery from the agricultural equipment manufacturer FarmWise. ZeroSixty received honorable mention in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) category of Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards 2024, the company said in a release.
FarmWise is an intelligent agricultural equipment business focused on building the next generation of technology-driven vision systems that power tomorrow’s farm equipment with ultra precision.
Vulcan is FarmWise’s new weeding implement that packs cutting-edge computer vision into a lightweight, open frame for vegetable cultivation. It’s powered by the Intelligent Plant Scanner, a high-performance, tightly integrated combination of camera, lighting, and computation elements that can identify, learn, scan, and operate precise actuation control hardware and software. The aim is to provide reliable and consistent sub-inch weeding accuracy in the traditional crop mix of the Western US vegetable industry.
FarmWise called on ZeroSixty, an experience design and innovation studio, to design and develop the next generation Vulcan HMI. The interface connects the tractor driver with FarmWise’s precision weeder. It is said to create “a robust system of controls and connectivity to help drive cultivation precision, data collection, smooth operations, seamless interactivity, and a future-proof platform to drive ongoing and future innovation.”
According to the release, ZeroSixty ’s design approach illuminated the unique nature of the HMI relationship and where new and emerging behavior existed. Founders Thomas Moeller and Kalpesh Rathod engaged in deep analysis of user needs and primary use cases, through prototyping and testing intricate control scenarios to ensure ease of use, flexibility, and agility in controls, and operational simplicity.
“This simplicity is what truly drove refinements and iterations—a proof of validation and readiness that revolved around the control of the physical equipment, context, and continual control interaction and optimization,” the release stated. “The process took the team to remote fields with prototypes and conversations with farmers. The result is a successful companion to the physical equipment, and a valuable control platform that focuses on impact.”
The Vulcan smart weeding implement from FarmWise, designed with ZeroSixty (Image: PRNewswire-PRWeb)
Challenges along the way
ZeroSixty, working in close collaboration with the FarmWise team, encountered numerous challenges designing a new platform for this type of industry and application. In many ways, it represents a new category and new relationship between human and machine.
The intelligence layer, the numerous environmental variables, and a wide range of crop types and field configurations demanded a deep and comprehensive layer of control specificity. All of this was needed in a form that allowed operators to access and adjust everything in a simple, efficient, and intuitive interface—what ZeroSixty called “a hyper-usable UI.”
According to ZeroSixty, the level of control refinements offered by the Vulcan precision weeder, in terms of weeding parameter adjustments (blade opening width, blade opening speed, and margins) is extremely granular and could easily be overwhelming for any operator.
“Working with powerful renderings and easy-to-understand imagery really allowed the team to take a complex system and turn into a very simple and straightforward experience,” the design firm stated. “Thanks to the simplicity of the user interface, FarmWise’s first customer operator trainings were impressively short: It took, on average, a day for a customer operator to go from having no knowledge of the Vulcan precision weeding implement and its capabilities to being completely autonomous, operating the equipment on their own.”
ZeroSixty employed a disciplined test-and-learn approach with a full end-to-end non-functional prototype early in the process to get the platform into operators’ hands, in the field. This took the design and engineering teams to remote rural areas, speaking with farmers and equipment operators to get a better sense of typical and edge-case scenarios, operational priorities, and the natural nuances that come with designing and using a system with complexity.
These iteration and refinement cycles were critical in the product design process, driving design decisions through data and feedback, and translating into a more informed, strategic solution with broader, more holistic product experience refinements. This was true across the physical machinery, the technology powering it, and the UX/UI that has been designed to control the entire platform, the company said.
Leveraging artificial intelligence
The entire Vulcan platform is powered by AI and machine learning that continually adjusts, senses, and analyzes real-time crop and cultivation data. The use of intelligence and deep refinement of a machine learning model are critical components to the ongoing precision and accuracy of the Vulcan platform.
“This is about leveraging emerging technology for analysis and accuracy purposes, leveraging new and forward-looking tools to learn and decipher complex data sets into refined operational algorithms,” the release stated.
In the FarmWise Vulcan, machine learning is employed to detect crops from weeds and beneficial plants and locate the plant’s meristem, enabling extremely precise (sub-inch) weed removal using soil disrupting blades. By reportedly accumulating one of the largest plant databases currently serving a concrete use case, FarmWise has created value for farmers. ZeroSixty said it has helped enable and bring to life a powerful platform that “makes control, management, and operation of the Vulcan machinery a seamless part of farming operations, harnessing the power of AI and ML into a true market leading product.”
ZeroSixty called the merging of this innovative and highly sophisticated technology out in the field “a fascinating merging of worlds.” Judging by the early data and feedback received, the impact and real-world benefits appear to be significant.
“Wow, I can really tell the person who designed this user interface deeply understands agriculture and the use case of precision weeding and cultivation in vegetables,” said Clay Mitchell, founding partner at Fall Line Capital, a FarmWise investor, in the release.
“The UI is awesome. I even see applications for it far beyond guiding the tractor driver to operate with the optimum settings,” said Taylor Farms Director of Organic Ag Operations Josh Roberts, in the release. “I could see this creating huge benefits for field supervisors by giving them the ability to monitor productivity and job quality from a distance, if they were provided with remote access to it.”
ZeroSixty is a multidisciplinary design studio led by award-winning designers Thomas Moeller and Kalpesh Rathod, who recognize that what businesses need from traditional agencies and large consultancies has changed. With a focus on business results and experiences that have impact in the real world, ZeroSixty’s capabilities span multiple disciplines to bring visions to market. They include experience strategy, product design, digital, brand, and industrial design.
The company’s recent client partnerships include a next-gen spatial UI video game for a popular TV series and popular network streaming company, a ‘creator community’ AI platform, and a real-estate tech platform.