Raghu Nandivada, who grew up in a farming family in south India, was inspired by his mother to develop a robot that could remove weeds. Despite not being a robotics engineer at the time, he pursued this challenge over nearly a decade. After earning an undergraduate degree in computer engineering in India, Nandivada attended Arizona State University (ASU) for his master’s degree in electrical engineering and later completed an MBA at ASU as well.
“I’ve been associated with ASU forever,” Nandivada said. “Through this whole journey, ASU has been a big part of it.”
By 2020, after observing advancements like driverless cars on the streets, Nandivada expected similar technology would exist for weed removal but found otherwise. Noticing increasing agricultural labor costs and their impact on farmers’ sustainability, he began researching automation solutions for agriculture during his evenings and weekends while still working as a principal engineer in the semiconductor industry.
“Farmers are being squeezed and automation is one way to help them be sustainable,” he said.
After conducting extensive customer discovery to understand farmers’ needs, Nandivada reconnected with ASU resources. He met Cole Brauer in 2020 and together they formed Padma AgRobotics. They participated in Venture Devils—a program at ASU’s J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute—which supports entrepreneurs through resources and funding opportunities.
Nandivada’s team won first place at the Venture Devils competition during the COVID-19 pandemic, receiving $15,000 after judges recognized their project’s importance to farmers.
“Now it’s not a side gig anymore,” he said. “This is serious business. It means there’s more responsibility to make it happen.”
From 2020 to 2023, Nandivada and Brauer developed robotic weed-pulling technology while working from a garage and engaging directly with customers for feedback. Padma AgRobotics became a finalist at the 2023 Venture Madness conference where they connected with Kristin Slice from Edson E+I Institute.
“Innovation takes time and often requires different kinds of support along the way — from faculty expertise and Small Business Innovation Research resources to funding and mentorship,” Slice said. “We’re proud of how our ecosystem has grown to help founders like Padma access these different opportunities.”
Customer suggestions led Padma AgRobotics to expand into projects such as developing robots for harvesting cilantro efficiently. The company secured funding through programs like Small Business Innovation Research and received grants including $175,000 from the Arizona Innovation Challenge.
Padma AgRobotics now operates out of Mesa, Arizona, serving clients such as Blue Sky Organic Farms, Duncan Family Farms—one of the largest organic farms in the U.S.—and Desert Premium. They are collaborating with Duncan Family Farms on an autonomous spraying machine funded by Cultivate PHX: Agrifood Tech Incubator.
Another project emerged when Blue Sky Organic Farms owner David Vose requested an AI scarecrow capable of deterring birds across large fields for extended hours each day.
“They work hard,” Vose said about Padma AgRobotics’ team efforts testing prototypes on-site multiple times.
“It’s expensive to have someone walking around all day scaring birds,” Vose added.
The resulting inflatable tube man robot aims to replace human labor for bird deterrence by offering unpredictable movement patterns so birds do not become accustomed to its presence.
“Scarecrows won’t work because you have to pursue the birds where they are. Replacing them with a moving robot that’s doing the same job and can do it endlessly — 12 hours a day — makes a lot of sense,” Vose explained.
Nandivada noted strong interest among other farmers seeking better bird deterrence solutions: “We were surprised by how many customers said they wanted a scarecrow.”
The AI scarecrow was developed over six months with attention paid to safety before field testing began during fall planting season at Blue Sky Organic Farms.
As U.S. agriculture faces ongoing labor shortages making it difficult for farmers like Vose—who sometimes works under extreme heat—to retain workers or find new ones willing to take physically demanding jobs, companies such as Padma AgRobotics are pursuing technological answers.
“Labor is so expensive, and it just keeps going up. They don’t want to be there. This is a physically demanding job,” Vose said. “It’s just hard to find anybody that’s going to embrace growing food.”
Padma AgRobotics continues exploring innovations including building robots that could harvest lettuce autonomously—a complex task requiring identification and packaging by machine vision systems—and regularly hires interns through ASU programs; many transition into full-time roles within the company due partly to convenient proximity between their Mesa office location and campus via light rail transit lines used by employees who started as student interns from ASU’s engineering schools.
Intern Ethan Young highlighted this culture: “I like being able to apply my skills and actively contribute to innovative projects at Padma AgRobotics,” Young said. “Agriculture will always be essential, and it’s exciting to see all of the ways technology is helping it innovate and adapt.”
Arizona State University has also been recognized nationally for its commitment toward innovation; according to recent rankings, ASU was named number one in innovation for eight consecutive years by U.S News & World Report based on nominations from higher education leaders evaluating advances made by institutions across categories such as business, nursing, engineering programs.
