Industrial & UX Design

AgroX
The farmer's eye in the field.

IMG
1x Gold Award
5x Silver Awards
Indigo Design Award
Product
Hardware & Software
My Role
Researcher, Lead UX, & Industrial Designer
Timeline
Q1 2026
Team
Yuchen Zhang
Feature 1

Autonomous Management

Define the coverage zone on the iPad. AgroX handles the patrol independently, every time.

Feature 2

Visual Pest Mapping

Real-time density mapping flags hotspots before they become outbreaks.

Feature 3

Non-Invasive Suction

Physical removal. No chemicals. No crop contact. No runoff.

Feature 4

Thermal Protection

Precision steam injected at the root. The underground lifecycle, broken.

01 — Primary Research

Five farms. Two weeks. No filter.

We followed five small-scale organic farmers on their morning patrols. The exhaustion was real, the tools were scarce, and the gap was obvious.

4
Georgia Family Farms
1
SC Farm Visit
Shadowing patrols
Identifying damage
SC Site visit
Farmer Voices
"Sometimes we are just… picking bugs off by hand."
→ Manual labor is the only fallback — a productivity killer.
"If the pest pressure is high, it's a choice between certification and our livelihood."
→ Organic standards create a high-stakes environment during outbreaks.
"Give me the date, crop, and the row. That's all I need."
→ Design Requirement: Radical simplicity and high-context data.
Initial Hypothesis

The assumption.

We assumed farmers were most worried about compliance and contamination.

The Field Pivot

The real fight.

The real problem isn't policy — it's the daily, unpredictable battle to protect crops without any chemical tools.

02 — The Problem

By the time you see it, it's too late.

Without chemical intervention, pests destroy 20–40% of crops every year. By the time a farmer spots a colony on their morning patrol, the damage is already done. We're solving for early detection — turning a reactive struggle into a proactive one.

Crop Loss
20–40%
Systemic Gap
Zero historical outbreak data currently recorded.
03 — Target User

Built for the field.

"I want something that just works. I don't have time for another complicated app."

How Might We

Help organic farmers detect pests early, respond fast, and stay 100% eco-compliant?

Core Objectives
  • High-contrast visual monitoring
  • One-tap physical intervention
  • Zero-training intuitive UI
04 — Technical Strategy

Six ideas. Three made the cut.

We analyzed the literature for organically safe, scientifically proven interventions. Six candidates. Three survived field feasibility review.

Visual Tracking
Partially Selected
Low-power computer vision for early identification.
Physical Suction
Selected
Autonomous vacuum for broad-spectrum organic control.
Attraction Grids
Narrowed Out
Too species-specific. Failed field scalability.
Precision Strike
Narrowed Out
Robotic arm. High precision but too slow for farm yield.
Seedling Chamber
Merged
Absorbed into final SteamSoil module.
Soil Sterilization
Selected
Sub-surface steam injection to break the pest lifecycle.
05 — Architecture

Logical Flow.

HOME PAGE
Data
Map
- Pest Map
- Thermo Map
- Vacuum Map
Task
- Task 1
- Task 2
- Task 3
- New Task
Report Chart
- Week Report
- Prediction
Device
Thermo
- Status
- Connection
- Map
Vacuum
- Status
- Connection
- Map
Camera
- Camera 1
- Camera 2
- Camera 3
Engine
- Maintenance
- Status
- Remote Control
Setting
- Map Setting
- General Preferences
- System Management
- Device Setup
06 — Final Deliverables

The app, in full.

Hardware Functional Zones