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Each year during the cultivation period, countless aviators nationwide board small aircraft filled with extensive amounts of pesticides and fly perilously close to the earth at speeds exceeding 140 miles per hour, spreading their load over fields of corn, cotton, and soybeans.
The realm of agricultural aviation is as perilous as it is crucial to America’s farms. Regrettably, deadly crashes are frequent. Presenting an alternative is Guardian Ag, established by former MIT Electronics Research Society (MITERS) innovators Adam Bercu and Charles Guan ’11, which introduces a sizable, specialized drone capable of autonomously transporting 200-pound cargoes across farmlands. The organization’s drones boast an 18-foot spraying range, 80-inch rotors, a personalized battery system, and aerospace-grade materials aimed at making crop spraying safer, more efficient, and more economical for farmers.
“We’re aiming to integrate technology into American farms that span hundreds or thousands of acres; our goal isn’t to swap out a human with a hand pump but to substitute a John Deere tractor, helicopter, or airplane,” Bercu comments.
“With Guardian, the operator arrives approximately 30 minutes prior to spraying, mixes the substance, plans the field path within our application, and receives a time estimate for the task,” he states. “Thanks to our quick charging, you can recharge the aircraft while filling the tank, and these two procedures require about the same duration.”
From Battlebots to farmland
From a young age, Bercu developed a fascination with constructing robots. Growing up in southern Florida, he participated in robotics competitions, crafted prototypes, and often scoured dumpsters for hard-to-find parts. During one such event, Bercu met Charles Guan, who would later major in mechanical engineering at MIT, and the two enthusiasts formed a lasting friendship.
“When Charles arrived at MIT, he pretty much persuaded me to relocate to Cambridge,” Bercu recalls. “He said, ‘You must come here. I’ve discovered more individuals like us. Hackers!’”
Bercu visited Cambridge, Massachusetts, and indeed fell in love with the area’s makerspaces and hacker culture. He moved shortly after, where he and Guan began spending their leisure time at locations such as the Artisans Asylum makerspace in Somerville, Massachusetts; MIT’s International Design Center; and the MIT Electronics Research Society (MITERS) makerspace. Guan occupied several leadership roles at MITERS, including facilities manager, treasurer, and president.
“MIT provided tremendous freedom for its students to be self-reliant and inventive, which was evident in the level of independence granted to student-run organizations like MITERS compared to other elite institutions,” Guan expresses. “This was a significant selling point for me when I toured mechanical engineering labs as a junior in high school. I was well-known within the department for my constant presence at MITERS, perhaps even more than in my classes.”
After Guan completed his studies, he and Bercu launched a hardware consulting business and participated in the robot combat series Battlebots. Guan also took on a role as a design instructor in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, where he led a section of Course 2.007, challenging students to create go-karts.
Ultimately, Guan and Bercu decided to leverage their expertise to establish a drone enterprise.
“Through the experiences at Battlebots and constructing go-karts, we recognized that electric batteries were becoming quite affordable and that the supply chains for electric vehicles were being established,” Bercu explains. “While individuals were securing funds to develop eVTOL [electric vertical take-off and landing] devices for passenger transport, we understood that diesel fuel still excelled over batteries for longer distances. Conversely, electric systems performed better in situations requiring peak power for brief durations. Essentially, batteries are fantastic for short missions.”
This notion led the founders to believe that crop spraying could be a promising early use case. Bercu’s family manages an aviation enterprise, and he was familiar with pilots who performed crop spraying as a side profession.
“It’s one of those lucrative yet extremely hazardous jobs,” Bercu notes. “Even within the U.S., we lose between 1 and 2 percent of all agricultural pilots annually to fatal incidents. These individuals are taking significant risks every time they undertake this task: flying just 6 feet off the ground at 140 miles an hour with 800 gallons of pesticide onboard.”
After assembling spare parts from Battlebots and their consulting venture, the founders created a 600-pound drone. Once they successfully got it airborne, they believed it was the right moment to launch their company, receiving essential early guidance and initial funding from the MIT-affiliated investment firm the E14 Fund.
In the following year, the founders interviewed crop dusters and farmers. They also began engaging with the Federal Aviation Administration.
“There was no category for anything resembling this,” Bercu elaborates. “With the FAA, we not only navigated the approval process, but we also assisted them in constructing the procedure as we proceeded, as we aimed to establish some sensible standards.”
Guardian custom-engineered its batteries to maximize throughputs and utilization rates of its drones. Depending on the farm, Bercu notes that his machines can discharge approximately 1.5 to 2 tons of payload each hour.
Guardian’s drones are also able to spray with greater accuracy than planes, minimizing the environmental repercussions of pesticides, which often contaminate the landscapes and water bodies surrounding farms.
“This device has the accuracy to spray a ‘Mona Lisa’ over 20 acres, but we’re not utilizing that feature at present,” Bercu states. “For the operator, we aim to make the process incredibly straightforward. Our objective is to teach someone who typically sprays with a tractor to use a drone in less than a week.”
Scaling for farmers
As of now, Guardian Ag has constructed eight of its aircraft, actively delivering cargo over Californian fields in trials with paying clients. The company is currently boosting manufacturing in its 60,000-square-foot facility in Massachusetts, and Bercu mentions that Guardian has a backlog of drones worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The demand from growers has been remarkable,” Bercu states. “We don’t need to instruct them on the necessity of this. They observe the large drone with the substantial tank, and they’re onboard.”
Bercu envisions Guardian’s drones assisting with various other tasks such as ship-to-ship logistics, providing supplies to offshore oil rigs, mining, and other sectors where helicopters and small aircraft currently navigate challenging terrains. However, for the moment, the company is concentrating on starting with agriculture.
“Agriculture is such a fundamental and essential element of our society,” remarks Guardian Ag’s chief operating officer Ashley Ferguson MBA ’19. “We collaborate with multigenerational farming families, and when we consult with them, it’s evident that aerial spraying has established itself within the industry. However, there is a significant shortage of pilots, particularly for agricultural applications. Thus, it’s clear there exists a major opportunity.”
Seven years after founding Guardian, Bercu remains appreciative that MIT’s community welcomed him when he moved to Cambridge.
“Without the MIT community, this company wouldn’t be viable,” Bercu asserts. “I was never able to attend college, but I would love to someday apply to MIT and complete my undergraduate degree in engineering or enroll in the Sloan School of Management. I will forever cherish MIT’s welcoming approach. It’s a place I hold close to my heart.”
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