airBridge and Gerrish Farms are proud to announce the agBOT Challenge 2017, to be held on June 23-25, 2017 at Gerrish Farms in Rockville, Ind.

Teams are lining up for the agBOT Challenge 2017 which includes two competitions this year — the Seeding Competition and the Weed & Feed Competition. To start off the weekend competition, on June 23, teams will gather alongside event sponsors to provide interactive displays for the general public at NextGen Expo.

The NextGen Expo will include interactive displays, field demonstrations of robotics in agriculture and discussions of technology being developed in agriculture. Attendance to the NextGen Expo is free and those interested in attending may register online at www.agbot.ag.

Following NextGen day will be the Seeding Competition presentations on June 24. Competitors include Pee Dee Precision Ag, Team Grit, Virginia Tech, California Polytechnic, South Newton High School, Purdue Polytechnic Institute and Ohio State University. Teams have been challenged to create an unmanned robotic system capable of autonomously planting in the fields.

On June 25, the Weed & Feed Competition presentations will take place. The current list of competitors includes Purdue University Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE), North Star Robotics, Indiana University-Purdue University, Team Grit, University of Regina, Prairie Robotics, South Newton High School, Pee Dee Precision Ag, Team Gizmoze, Purdue Polytechnic Institute and Team Agribotist. Teams have been challenged to create an unmanned robotic system capable of autonomous identification, eradication of weeds and feeding of plants.

For more information about the event, sponsorship, attendance, volunteering, etc. please contact Rachel Gerrish at 765-918-8666 or email at rlgerrish@odeaulete.com.