The Robot Industry Podcast

Bryan Madden is the Farms Director at Champ's Fresh Farms Inc. in Langley BC

Welcome to podcast # 159. I caught up with Bryan, who is a customer of Mycionics, my client. I spent the last few days at #Mushroomdays or #Mushroom Days in the Netherlands.

Here are some of my questions:

How did you get into mushroom farming?

Can you tell me about Apex / South Mill Champs?
What is the output of the farm? How many employees?

What is a Drawer farm, what is that and why is it important to the conversation?

1.5 million pounds weekly , production in winnipeg lot to gain 

Drawer farm, Europe is (now) learning from us

NO ONE WANT to pick mushrooms, it is a really tough job.

Canada's Temporary foreign workers program?

Labour is a complex variable on the farm.

Why automation? 

Beyond the labor challenge, you are going to get a lot of data?

What are some of the challenges?

You are positioning your farm to be one of the most technologically advanced automated mushroom growing operations in North America. 

That must be challenging and exciting.

How did you learn about Mycionics?

Tell me about your project. 

What is the ROI of automation, from your perspective?

How do you roll out automation in a farm? Is it by room?

You have purchased the Mycionics Crop Scout and robotic harvester picker. Can you tell our audience what they do

Your workers have to make thousands of picks (decisions) a day, how does (adding) this automation make them feel?

You have committed to rolling out Crop Scouts product and you have tested others, so you believe in the technology approach from Mycionics

What about the data that you are collecting? How is that going to change your operation?

You are also considering robotic picking automation, a multi arm robot on order. I know that you have had some initial success with a prototype unit? How is that experience going?

What have you had to do to get ready for automation?

How has Mycionics been to work with? Are they responsive? What about remote support?

So you are a big believer in the Mycionics approach and the Mycionics team?

You know the team from Mycionics, Ryan and Stefan, are they open to your feedback?

You deal with lots of automation vendors when it comes to mushroom harvesting, what has been the difference between suppliers?

You are piloting technology all the time, do you have a message for these evolving suppliers?

You are pretty excited about the data?

Mushroom farming in Canada, why and why now?

Future of mushroom farming is automated, would you agree?

Is there anything that separates mycionics, have they done anything special  innovation

Robotics and automation are not perfected in the lab, it is in the barn. It needs people like you open to fail and to iterate.

Thanks for coming onto the podcast. Thanks for all you do for the industry!

Did we forget to talk about anything?

If you would like to get in touch with Bryan here is his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-madden-b12a9329/

https://www.mycionics.com

Stefan Glibetic is president of Mycionics based out of Kitchener/Waterloo, ON

My friend is in charge of sales and growth at Mycionics is Ryan McCartney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandoesdeals/

If you would like to get in touch with us at THE robot industry podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta...

Welcome to podcast # 158. Chuck Baresich is the Founder and President of Haggerty Creek farming operation. He is a farmer and an expert in AgRobotics.

The farming operation is part of Haggerty Creek Ltd. owned & operated by Chuck & Justin Baresich and AGRIS Cooperative since 2001 www.haggertycreek.com. He has been researching and testing various automated technologies.

Haggerty AgRobotics is actively developing relationships with leading ag-technology companies to commercialize new innovations and bring them to farmers in Eastern Canada.

Here are some of my questions to Chuck:

Who is the Ontario AgRobotics Working Group?

Ag robotics adoption in Canada? What’s holding users back? What motivates them?

What is digital agriculture?

How did you get into automation….and what automation are you using?

Laser Zapper? Standard equipment?

What countries do they come from?

Service and support question (what is plan B?)

Resistant weeds and speed

Data question: Cameras and computers in every machine quality of images, etc.

Canadians are typically slow to install automation in factories…are farmers the same?

Let's talk about autonomous farming vehicles (AMRs, AGVs and logistics)

Is broadband a problem? Remote processing.

What is your advice to farmers who are thinking about automation?

Where can farmers see demonstrations?

How do we get better at putting more automation into farm?

Too complicated? Waterloo company startup example.

How can people get a hold of you?

AgRobotics Working Group

The AgRobotics Working Group comprises a diverse membership, including representatives from various levels of government, academic institutions, industry associations, and many more stakeholders in the agriculture sector. Since our establishment in March 2021, we have been dedicated to on-farm demonstrations, fostering networks, facilitating collaboration, and brainstorming innovative technology solutions. Our weekly meetings serve as a platform for discussing ideas, reviewing new technologies, applying for funding opportunities, and developing priorities for Ontario Agriculture.

Show Notes:

https://www.agroboticswg.com/memberships

https://www.agroboticswg.com/events

‍London, ON – March 23, 2026 – The future of farming will be on display at the inaugural Canadian AgRobotics & AI Summit on March 26, 2026, at The Grove, Western Fair District. As Canada’s largest agrobotics conference, the one-day event will bring together farmers, innovators, researchers, funders and industry leaders from across North America to explore the rapidly evolving role of robotics and artificial intelligence in agriculture.

If you would like to get in touch with us at THE robot industry podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimberetta/

Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production and my business partner Janet.

And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio

Be safe out there!

Jim

Jim Beretta...

Welcome to #157 of TRIP, The Robot Industry Podcast. I met up with Matt in Windsor during the Windsor-Essex' Emerging Technologies in Automation & Mobility Transformation Conference & Trade Show.

Matthew Hortop, P.E. is a Technical Specialist for all Things Electrification.

AVL is his employer and they are a 12,000-person company focused on powertrains. They don't make engines or inverters, they help customers doing the technology development. Batteries have become an important part of the automotive industry, including the drivetrain.

AVL

https://www.avl.com/en/engineering/e-mobility-engineering/battery-development-electric-vehicles

Some of the questions that I asked Matt:

How did you get into the industry?

What do you do?

What do you have for an automotive OEM?

The speed of the battery industry?

How do you support your customers?

You can find out more about the organizers (Invest Windsor Essex) at https://www.emergingtechnologies.ca/ or at https://www.investwindsoressex.com/.

If you would like to get in touch with us at THE robot industry podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimberetta/

Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production and my business partner Janet.

And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio

Be safe out there!

Jim

Jim Beretta

Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast

London, ON

Welcome to #156 of TRIP, The Robot Industry Podcast. Matt Khoshdarregi is the CEO of TetraGen Robotics. He holds a P.Eng. and Ph.D.

They, TetraGen, are a Manitoba-based developer of adaptive robotic manufacturing systems for high-mix, high-variability applications. Their current focus is on welding and trimming processes. Enjoy the podcast!

Some of my questions to him:

Matt, How did you get into the industry?

Tell me (and our audience) about TetraGen.

Who are your bullseye customers?

Why did you choose robotic welding?

How big is the labour challenge?

How does AI come into welding?

Tell me about your partners?

Have you had any surprises in starting TetraGen?

Data? How important is this to your customers?

How does a customer get started with you?

What does the future look like for automated - AI - welding?

What are some Frequently Asked Questions?

How can people get a hold of you?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-khoshdarregi-561b8631

https://www.linkedin.com/company/tetragen-robotics

If you would like to get in touch with us at THE robot industry podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimberetta/

Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production and my business partner Janet.

And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio

Be safe out there!

Jim

Jim Beretta

Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast

London, ON

Welcome to #158, I have known Stephen Slothuber for a long time; in fact, I worked with him and his father at ATS Automation. The Slothubers were an institution at ATS for accuracy, dependability and getting things done.

I was happy to have Steve on the podcast to talk about CRM for automation integrators and machine builders.

Enjoy the podcast and if you are thinking about a CRM for your machine building company, or are thinking about a Zoho implementation, I highly recommend him and his company

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenslothouber

Emberops is his company name.

I would like to thank my team and our Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner, and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio

Thanks for listening!

Jim

Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
[email protected]