Raven buys Jaybridge Robotics IP, patents

Raven Industries Inc. has purchased all of the intellectual property (IP) and patents of Jaybridge Robotics, an early developer of automated agriculture technology. Terms were not disclosed.

Jaybridge’s IP portfolio includes critical patents for technology directly related to path-planning, obstacle detection and avoidance and multi-machine control systems.

Raven said it will leverage this IP portfolio with the company’s continued development of driverless ag technology — including integration of the technology into the company’s AutoCart platform (shown).

“By acquiring Jaybridge’s intellectual property we are able to advance our autonomy strategy by combining necessary, technology-leading patents with our current suite of proprietary products in this space,” said Jared Kocer, Raven’s Director of Technology Solutions. “Having this technology will allow us to accelerate the development of vehicle automation for agriculture equipment applications.”

Founded in Cambridge, Mass., in 2008, Jaybridge Robotics focused on the automation of industrial vehicles in applications such as agriculture, mining, marine and rail. The company’s software development team joined Toyota Research Institute (TRI) in 2016, but Jaybridge remained an independent entity.