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At Crover Ltd we aim to help grain-storekeepers monitor and maintain the quality of their stock using the first robotic device (a 'Crover') able to swim through grain bulks.
About
Crover, the first small robotic device able to move within grains stored in bulk, such as in sheds and silos, is intended to improve their packing and to use on-board sensors to scan the grains and build a full map of conditions within the grain store. Unlike current grain monitoring solutions that measure only one variable and have limited reach, Crover’s remote monitoring device will provide data across a range of measurements, initially temperature and moisture, throughout the whole silo. This gives early detection of potential spoilage allowing proactive management to reduce losses and maintain quality. The product is made possible by a new ground-breaking physical discovery enabling locomotion in bulk solids (e.g. sand, grains, powders) developed by the founder of the Company. Like plane or drone wings in air, or a boat’s rotor in water, it allows an object to move within solid grains. A patent covering the core technology for locomotion in bulk solids has recently been granted in the UK (GB2567898), and an international PCT application is pending.
Key Benefits
The principal criticality of existing control systems, on top of high electrical energy consumption costs, is the lack of the possibility to verify the condition of grains (i.e. potential contamination and quality) while static within silos. Existing monitoring solutions can, in fact, be divided in two main classes: samples or direct measurements taken near the surface of the bulk; and static arrays of sensors mounted within the store. The first is usually unrepresentative of conditions within the bulk, and once infestations have grown to a size that can be measured near the surface of the bulk it is usually too late; the second has a high cost which usually outweighs its benefits and usually still can’t detect problems early as sensors are spaced more than 1.2m apart. Main USPs: - Crover will be the first product able to verify grain condition while still in storage; - Reach parts of the bulks that cannot be reached otherwise; - Detect critical conditions early; - A service licence model will be an attractive option for customers, who can spread costs, including: Leasing of the hardware (one Crover per licence); A digital platform for customers to view the data and useful metrics; Condition alerts; Cloud management and storage of the data collected by the Crover; Software updates.
Applications
Our current focus is to target centralised grain storage sites storing for third parties with at least 20,000t storage capacity, who store for a continuous period of at least 3 months, typically owned by grain merchants and co-operatives. We are currently focusing on wheat and barley, and we have recently started investigating cocoa beans and fish feed pellets, however the technology and product can potentially be applied to any bulk of granular solids, such other food produce like rice and coffee beans, as well as sand in the ground and chemical powders.