Alumni Meet the Alums Using Robots and AI to Improve Crop Health Stories You May Like Flying High: Sophomore Is a Rising Star in the Birding World Engineering Alumna Rockets to Netflix Baking Competition With ‘Succession,’ Another Emmy for Producer Scott Ferguson ’82, BA ’83 Launched for vineyards, their company—dubbed Budbreak—now works with growers of berries, citrus, almonds, and more By Melissa Newcomb Emma starts work on the vineyard before sunrise, methodically inspecting the health of each grapevine and documenting potential problems before they spread. She never gets tired, doesn’t mind working through the night, and can cover acres of vines without missing a plant. Emma isn’t a human worker—she’s a robot developed by Budbreak, an agritech startup founded by Jonathan Moon ’21, MS ’24, and Ertai Liu, PhD ’24, that helps growers monitor crops and access data more quickly and easily. “She can autonomously navigate vineyard rows and collect data for hours at a time,” says Moon. “It’s like a Roomba: you just start it and let it go.” Using cameras and artificial intelligence, the robot rolls down the vineyard rows taking thousands of photos to create a digital replica with details about each plant, from its height and the size of the fruit to signs of disease, pests, and animal damage. Liu (left) and Moon. Budbreak is also developing AI tools that can pair what Emma sees in the field with agricultural research—from institutions like Cornell and the University of California, Davis—that help growers better understand problems and decide how to address them. The company recommends scanning fields at least four times a year: in the offseason, when fruit begins changing color, around harvest, and at bud break (when vines revive from winter dormancy, and the inspiration for the startup’s name). "Farmers only get a limited number of growing seasons in a lifetime—perhaps 40 or 50 chances to learn and improve," Moon observes. "Budbreak’s vision is to use AI and robotics to learn across thousands of acres and millions of plants at once." While the company—which was founded in 2025—began by specializing in grapes, its services have expanded to include berries, citrus fruits, and tree nuts like almonds and pistachios. Its robots are now being used on more than two dozen commercial farms throughout Northern California. “It’s a way of optimizing agriculture,” says Moon, who majored in computer science in Arts & Sciences before earning a master’s from the Bowers College. “We want to unlock a superpower for farmers, so they have full insight on the status, condition, health, and production of their fields.” We want to unlock a superpower for farmers, so they have full insight on the status, condition, health, and production of their fields. Jonathan Moon ’21, MS ’24 Emma takes about 30 minutes to scan an acre, with each successive scan creating a richer data set and a more detailed map. She typically stays on a property for a week or two before being moved to the next client. Stories You May Like Flying High: Sophomore Is a Rising Star in the Birding World Engineering Alumna Rockets to Netflix Baking Competition “If farmers aren’t sure if their plants are going to have a disease, sometimes they’ll start applying chemicals to all of them,” explains Liu, who earned his doctorate in agricultural engineering, working primarily at Cornell’s AgriTech campus in Geneva. “Our service lets you narrow the problem down to the plant, so you can treat only two if needed, and leave the rest that are healthy.” A vineyard model created by Budbreak's system. Liu and Moon met in CALS’ Ag Robotics Lab, where they collaborated on research using robotics to monitor crops before teaming up to found Budbreak. Moon now serves as its CEO, focusing on business development, while Liu is the company’s CTO. Our service lets you narrow the problem down to the plant, so you can treat only two if needed, and leave the rest that are healthy. Ertai Liu, PhD ’24 As Moon recalls, during one of Emma’s first overnight deployments on a Napa vineyard in summer 2025, Moon programmed the robot to complete an eight-hour scan of roughly 15 acres, then fell asleep in his car. He woke as the sun was beginning to rise over the hills, with the robot idling in the precise spot at the end of its route. Moon (left) and Liu conducting field research. The collected data revealed a cluster of a virus in one section of the vineyard, and gopher holes in another—problems the grower hadn’t known about. “It was so satisfying that she did exactly what I wanted her to do,” Moon says. “That was the moment that I realized this was much more than just a research project.” (All images provided.) Published August 12, 2026 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. 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