We’re proud to spotlight our partnership with Farmwave, a leader in agtech innovation tackling one of modern agriculture’s most costly and persistent problems: harvest loss.
Every harvest season, farmers unknowingly lose a portion of their crop out the back of the combine; grain that’s grown, matured, and ready to sell, but never makes it to the bin. Traditional methods of measuring this loss involve manual kernel counts done by hand: stop the combine, lay out collection trays, gather data, and calculate averages. It’s slow, imprecise, and often skipped entirely during time-critical harvest windows.
Farmwave’s Harvest Vision system changes that. Using computer vision and AI running directly on Luxonis hardware, it gives farmers real-time visibility into what’s being lost during harvest, while they’re still in motion.
Smarter Harvesting with Edge AI from Luxonis
At the heart of Harvest Vision is the Luxonis OAK‑D‑PoE, a compact, rugged stereo camera with onboard depth sensing and neural inference. Mounted on the combine’s header and rear spreader, the OAK‑D‑PoE captures video frames every few seconds and runs kernel-counting algorithms directly on the device—no cloud connection or server farm required.
This on-device inference is key to solving the problem effectively:
- No connectivity required – works reliably in rural, low-signal environment
- Low latency – results appear instantly in the cab for real-time response
- Consistent accuracy – kernel detection happens hundreds of times per acre
- Scalable & simple – easy to install, configure, and operate at scale
Each image captures a 1-square-meter view behind the combine. The system counts kernels in real time and displays trendlines and color-coded zones on a cab-mounted interface, helping operators adjust machine settings mid-harvest to reduce loss. Saving even 3–8 bushels per acre can mean tens of thousands in recovered revenue over a season.
Why Luxonis Was the Right Fit
Before adopting edge AI, attempts to automate harvest loss measurement often struggled with tradeoffs: camera systems that relied on cloud compute were limited by rural connectivity, while server-based setups introduced latency and complexity. Additionally, this system must be able to handle the most extreme environments. Mounting cameras on a combine navigating a farm introduces extreme vibration, excessive dust, inevitable moisture, and intense heat
Farmwave chose the OAK‑D‑PoE because it brings together high-resolution RGB and stereo vision, onboard AI processing, and Power-over-Ethernet simplicity in a single, durable form factor. It’s compact, IP67-rated for industrial environments, and designed to withstand the extreme conditions of the field.
The system is powered by Luxonis’ DepthAI SDK, which allowed the Farmwave team to rapidly prototype and refine a user-friendly detection pipeline. Just as importantly, the ease of integration means their customers don’t need technical expertise to operate it. With just a few cables and configuration steps, the system can be installed on a wide range of combines. No retraining. No third-party infrastructure. No IT support.
This level of simplicity means Farmwave’s solution isn’t just powerful… It’s accessible, giving growers across the U.S. an affordable, easy-to-deploy tool to improve harvest outcomes, without changing how they work.
Building the Future of Precision Agriculture
Our collaboration with Farmwave brings AI directly to the field in a way that’s practical, cost-effective, and scalable. By eliminating guesswork during one of the most critical windows of the farming cycle, it helps growers protect their investment and make smarter decisions that directly affect their bottom line.
We’re excited to continue building with Farmwave and to support the growing role of edge AI in sustainable, efficient agriculture.
🔗 Learn more about Farmwave Harvest Vision
📷️ Explore Luxonis OAK‑D‑PoE
