Silo (2019) marketed itself as the first feature film about a grain entrapment. In it, a teenage boy is trapped in a corn silo, forcing a town to put aside their differences and rescue him.
While that may sound like an odd premise, grain entrapment is a very real and dangerous thing. In 2022, there were at least 29 reported entrapments, 11 fatal.
A Nebraska father-and-son startup is looking to solve this problem by ensuring “no boots in the grain.”
How does grain entrapment occur?
Workers — many of whom are teens — climb into silos and walk across grain to speed the flow from top to bottom or break up clumps of spoiled grain.
Unstable grain, like quicksand, can quickly entrap or even engulf a person, while compression obstructs breathing, circulation, and even minor movements. Victims who are rescued often still suffer serious injuries.
People can also be injured falling off silos, lose limbs to augers, or develop a condition called farmer’s lung from breathing in grain dust.
In response…
… Nebraska father and -son Chad and Ben Johnson launched a robotics company called Grain Weevil.
Ben, an electrical engineering major, had built a robot that could follow a tour guide based on their shirt color. In 2020, a farmer friend saw that bot and challenged him to build one that could replace humans in grain bins.
The Johnsons displayed their prototype at a local screening of Silo and received “hundreds of comments and questions” from attendees and people who’d seen a video of it online, per AgFunderNews.
The Weevil can break up clumps, level grain, conduct inspections, and feed augers. The first version has a camera and remote control system for a human to operate, but Grain Weevil hopes to offer fully autonomous bots in the future.
The company, which raised $3.5m in May, is partnering with Midwest farms and trialing at commercial grain facilities ahead of a 2025 commercial launch target.
Curious about what this bot looks like? Here’s a video.
