On March 4, 2022, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, announced over $1 million in funding for seven businesses under the Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) program. ISC is a challenge-based research and development program that offers Canadian small businesses the opportunity to develop solutions, products, and technologies leading to a more prosperous and competitive sector.
Four of the funded projects fall under the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Farming Challenge. The following projects will receive up to $150,000 each to develop advanced automation and robotic technologies to improve work productivity and operational efficiency:
- Kinova will develop a low-cost and accessible multi-produce picking solution using Kinova’s existing lightweight robotic manipulator technology;
- Circulus Agtech Solutions will develop a plant health control system using computer vision and an automated organic liquid nutrient analyzer to reduce visual inspection requirements;
- Mycionics will develop a robotic packing system to completely automate the processes of harvesting fresh-market quality mushrooms;
- Smart Pix Robotics will develop a 3D modelling system to enable the digitization of greenhouses at a micro-precision level to enhance labour efficiency and productivity.
If successful at the proof of concept stage, projects are each eligible for up to $1 million under Phase 2 of the ISC Challenge for prototype development.
