Heartland Robotics Cluster, secure a $25 million grant from the American Rescue Plan’s regional Build Back Better program

OMAHA, Nebraska – Imagine what the future holds for farming in every region of the world. Satellite data, interpreted by artificial intelligence, communicated to drones, which then connected to robots, and were maintained by a staff that had recently been trained.

Because of this, a Nebraska organization known as the Heartland Robotics Cluster was able to receive a grant in the amount of $25 million from the regional Build Back Better initiative of the American Rescue Plan.

Gina Raimondo, the Secretary of Commerce for the United States of America, stated that “It’s like Main Street, U.S.A.,” rural communities, and mining communities, and that “we’re saying we want you to be able to participate as this economy becomes more digital, more green, and more autonomous.” Everyone has a chance of winning.

This is exactly the kind of thing that Nebraska excels at.

Dan Hoffman, the Chief Executive Officer of Invest Nebraska, stated, “We are tremendously excited.” Through the use of automation and robotics, this has the potential to increase Nebraska’s labor productivity over the long term.

The multi-layered organization that operates under the Heartland Robotics Cluster is to thank for the successful proposal.

Mike Riley, the Associate Dean for Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering, stated that “We’re doing something different, we’re bringing together all these various partners to do things that they’re going to go beyond simply what happens on an academic campus.” “It’s actually working with industry working across the state, and it’s helping folks to integrate new technology in their operations,” said the person in charge of the project.

The Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional profile states that the plan will “accelerate Nebraska’s leadership in the agricultural industry through robotic technologies and advanced manufacturing automation while also revitalizing the region’s rural labor force and strengthening the nation’s food supply chain.” This is according to the group’s plan to “accelerate Nebraska’s leadership in the agricultural industry through robotic technologies and advanced manufacturing automation.”

Hoffman stated, “Where better than a place like Nebraska where we’re builders, I mean we build things.” “It all goes back to the days when people lived on farms and then moved to towns where manufacturing took place; therefore, we are aware of the issues at hand; all that remains is for us to discover answers through new business ventures and creative thinking.”

These advances are simply a part of the plan, which also includes ensuring that the new technology is functional at home.

“Training the workforce, training the folks who are already working in those facilities to, oh, you know, here’s a new kind of employment, new kind of opportunity,” Riley said, was going to be an important part of the process. “A big part of that process is going to be training the workforce.” “And boy, all those prospects are also incredibly attractive to a lot of adolescents, for whom the thought of working with robots is pretty interesting,” you can say. “And boy, all those opportunities are also really attractive to a lot of adults.”

It’s possible that the three successful projects that Heartland Robots Cluster has already financed, which use artificial intelligence and robotics to find solutions to issues in agriculture, tipped the scales in their favor.

“One was to figure out how to put a robot in a grain bin so that farmers wouldn’t die because one farmer dies every two weeks in a grain bin (event), so it’s a safety issue,” Hoffman said of the Grain Weevil. “One was to figure out how to put a robot in a grain bin so that farmers wouldn’t die.” “That is an issue, and we have a solution to that problem,” the speaker said.

He continues by saying, “They have a solution through Birds Eye Robotics in a little town called Herman, Nebraska, which has a population of 265 people.” Why not obtain a robot, teach it artificial intelligence and computer vision, put that in a chicken barn, and let that replace the human work? They’re having difficulties hiring labor, so why not get a robot, teach it artificial intelligence and computer vision, and put that in a poultry barn? As a result, we are beginning to see people identifying problems within agriculture and finding solutions that involve robotics and automation to remedy them.

Hoffman mentioned that the third company was Marble Technology, which was implementing robotic technology into meat packaging operations. “Back in January, all three of the companies participated in the American Farm Bureau Innovations Challenge, and all three of them finished in the top three; the Grain Weevil, the robot for gran bins, was declared the winner of the challenge, and so you know that we are headed in the right direction for Nebraska.”