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Willy Pell from Blue River Technology brings AI to the farm

By Steve Crowe | April 15, 2022

Welcome to Episode 75  of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community.

Cruise robotaxi gets confused by traffic cop

In this week’s episode, Steve and Mike discuss the recent story about a Cruise robotaxi getting pulled over by a San Francisco traffic cop. Here’s the video that sparked the conversation:

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by B-RadAbroad (@b.rad916)

 

Interview with Blue River Technology / John Deere Tractors

This week, Mike sat down with Willy Pell, VP of autonomy at Blue River Technology. Blue River Technology was acquired by John Deere in 2017 for $305M, a large sum of money for a young startup. However, as you’ll learn in the interview, the acquisition was pivotal for John Deere’s roadmap towards the development of a fully autonomous tractor, resulting the launch of the John Deere 8R Autonomous Tractor in January 2021.


If you would like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of the podcast, or if you have recommendations for future guests or segment ideas, contact Steve Crowe or Mike Oitzman.

For sponsorship opportunities of The Robot Report Podcast, contact Courtney Nagle for more information.


We want your feedback:

Tell us what you think are the most interesting robotics trends that will impact us in 2022? Leave us a voicemail.

You may also like:

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    Are farmers ready for autonomous tractors?
  • John Deere autonomous tractor in a field
    Jeremy Clarkson needs the new John Deere autonomous tractor
  • Bear Flag Robotics acquired by John Deere
    The future of autonomous tractors
  • Bear Flag Robotics acquired by John Deere
    John Deere acquiring Bear Flag Robotics for $250M
  • Bear Flag Robotics' autonomous tractor
    Bear Flag robotics raises $7.9M for autonomous tractors

About The Author

Steve Crowe

Steve Crowe is Executive Editor, Robotics, WTWH Media, and chair of the Robotics Summit & Expo and RoboBusiness. He is also co-host of The Robot Report Podcast, the top-rated podcast for the robotics industry. He joined WTWH Media in January 2018 after spending four-plus years as Managing Editor of Robotics Trends Media. He can be reached at scrowe@wtwhmedia.com

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  • Home
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