- TerraSense autonomous robots help farmers detect crop issues earlier and cut input use.
- Tech not meant to replace but complement other tools like drones.
- It is entering commercial deployment with pilot projects planned in China, Saudi Arabia and Italy.
TerraSense develops autonomous farm robots that combine soil sensing and AI-powered crop monitoring to help farmers detect problems earlier and use resources more efficiently.
Over the next 12 months, the startup plans to launch a series of pilots beginning with a project in China, followed in Saudi Arabia and Italy.
The company has also received interest from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong, though the immediate focus remains on validating its technology through pilot projects.
The startup was founded by Khaled Megahed, Naif Alotaibi, and Abdelrahman Fattouh around seven months ago through the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship (TIE) programme at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
Filling a gap
According to Megahed, the startup aims to tackle the challenges faced on agricultural land in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
Current monitoring methods, including drones and satellites, often identify crop stress only after significant damage has occurred, making it too late to intervene and prevent crop losses.
“We needed something that could identify the problem earlier and prevent the damage before it happened, which led us to focus on the soil as the earliest indicator. It is a preventive approach,” Megahed told AgNavigator.
“The challenge is that most commercial soil-sensing solutions today are fixed in place. To cover large areas of farmland, growers need significant capital investment, and those sensors still provide only limited visibility. They cannot give a complete picture on their own, so you need a combination of different technologies working together.”
To address this gap, the company developed autonomous robotic platforms that combine in-soil sensors with AI-powered vision systems.
The technology measures soil moisture, pH, conductivity and nutrient levels while simultaneously analysing crop conditions through computer vision.
The company currently offers two robotic platforms designed for different field conditions: a quadruped robot and a rover.
Data collected by the robots is processed through machine learning models that provide growers with recommendations on irrigation, fertilisation and crop health management.
“The fusion of soil sensing and AI vision allows us to do early detection. Everything is fed into the machine learning platform, which tells you exactly what is wrong with your farm while you are away,” said the CEO.
The company’s platform can help growers reduce both water and fertiliser use, with fertiliser savings potentially reaching 30–40%.
Interest from growers is also increasing as climate pressures and resource constraints intensify.
“In the beginning, there was a lack of awareness. Now it is a need because of resource shortages, geopolitical situations and climate challenges. Farmers need to protect the soil and protect their production resources,” said Megahed.
Optimise, not replace
While the technology was initially developed with date palm cultivation in mind, the startup is now testing it across a wider range of crops, including corn, carrots and grapes.
The company also sees opportunities to integrate its system with other precision agriculture technologies rather than competing directly against them.
“We do not replace current monitoring methods. We complete them and optimise them, whether it is fixed sensors, satellite monitoring or aerial drone monitoring,” said Megahed.
He added that one potential application could involve the TerraSense platform communicating directly with agricultural drones.
“If there’s an organisation pursuing precision agriculture and already using drones carrying up to 100 litres of water, our platform can communicate with those drones and provide precise recommendations on where additional water is needed. That’s exactly what we’re looking to do with them.”
Paving the way
At the moment, rather than selling hardware outright, the startup has adopted a Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) model aimed at reducing adoption barriers.
The company currently targets medium and large agricultural operations, as well as government organisations that support growers.
“We want to prove that the solution is working. After the solution is implemented on a larger scale, we can go for B2C and target small farmers as well.”
China expansion plans
The startup is also leveraging China’s manufacturing ecosystem as it moves towards commercialisation.
After joining Shenzhen-based accelerator InnoX, the team spent several months exploring opportunities in the country and ultimately decided to manufacture a substantial portion of its hardware there.
“We saw that there is a need for our solution, but also a very welcoming environment for entrepreneurs and technologists. The supply chain here is amazing. We produce a large part of our hardware in China. Nothing can beat the speed of China and Shenzhen when it comes to manufacturing,” said Megahed.
