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Optimal | Autonomous Greenhouses | Founders Fund Backed | London - Software Engineers (all levels) - Backend, Frontend, Data - Simulation, Modelling, Optimisa

Optimal | Autonomous Greenhouses | Founders Fund Backed | London - Software Engineers (all levels) - Backend, Frontend, Data - Simulation, Modelling, Optimisation and Control Engineers (all levels) - Reinforcement Learning, Machine Learning Engineers (all levels) We are a collection of engineers from Palantir, DeepMind, McLaren, MIT etc on a mission to supply safer, healthier food by deploying fully autonomous greenhouses outside every city on earth. Greenhouses can supply nutritious food outside cities all year round without having to transport it great distances. They use 95% less water and fertiliser than field farming and minimal-to-zero pesticides. They allow countries to produce food within their own borders and they are resilient to extreme weather conditions caused by climate change. £700BN of new greenhouses need to be built around the world. Come and help us build them! Find out more about our mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDJ_QdUaap4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDJ_QdUaap4 Team: https://www.linkedin.com/company/optimal-labs/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/optimal-labs/ Contact me (founder) directly: david@optimal.ag

7thaccount 6y ago
I'm pretty happy in my current job, but this looks extremely tempting (as a EE that does more with power grid optimization). Although the optimization I do is more in dealing with LP & MIP models vs the control theory stuff I did in college. I've recently started getting into gardening and have long thought that greenhouses and hydroponics with lots of sensors would be the way forward for the world's growing population. Is the scaling really as easy as I've heard claimed? It would seem that water use reduction and controlling pests (no need for pesticides) would be a big boon. Also, having these farms closer to population centers should help with supply chain logistics and maybe even allow y'all to pick the produce at a later time rather than before when it's ready. Not sure if you're willing to answer here, but what does the tech stack look like from both the controls engineering (Ex: Matlab or Labview?) and data science side (Ex: Python, R, Matlab...etc)? Is the business model to make turn key greenhouses? How do you deal with the fact that every farm would be different? I imagine it is a bit like substation design firms that have a base design that just needs to be tweaked for the exact needs of the client. Best of luck on your mission. Again, this looks interesting and beneficial for the planet.
- tttioo12345 6y ago
  You should try some hydroponics yourself! I think it will quickly fill in some of your questions and give you a concrete understanding of the challenges. Short answer: Soil and sun do a lot, replacing them requires many inputs and sensors
  - 7thaccount 6y ago
    It's on my to-do list. I could see the need for light and moisture sensors, as well as nutrient bath flow sensors. Not sure what all else besides temperature and humidity.
- 4b11b4 6y ago
  Also EE getting deep into gardening, plants, soil web, etc. Haven't tried hydroponics but doing site prep for a greenhouse (Growing Spaces kit) where I will have an aquaponic setup. I would recommend learning about soil and fungi. You will be less interested in electronics and computers afterwards...
nicwilson 6y ago
Ah good, you are still hiring. I sent you an email a couple of weeks ago but never heard back, I guess I got stuck in your transition from angel.co or got sent to spam? I'll send another.

7thaccount 6y ago

I'm pretty happy in my current job, but this looks extremely tempting (as a EE that does more with power grid optimization). Although the optimization I do is more in dealing with LP & MIP models vs the control theory stuff I did in college. I've recently started getting into gardening and have long thought that greenhouses and hydroponics with lots of sensors would be the way forward for the world's growing population. Is the scaling really as easy as I've heard claimed? It would seem that water use reduction and controlling pests (no need for pesticides) would be a big boon. Also, having these farms closer to population centers should help with supply chain logistics and maybe even allow y'all to pick the produce at a later time rather than before when it's ready. Not sure if you're willing to answer here, but what does the tech stack look like from both the controls engineering (Ex: Matlab or Labview?) and data science side (Ex: Python, R, Matlab...etc)? Is the business model to make turn key greenhouses? How do you deal with the fact that every farm would be different? I imagine it is a bit like substation design firms that have a base design that just needs to be tweaked for the exact needs of the client. Best of luck on your mission. Again, this looks interesting and beneficial for the planet.

tttioo12345 6y ago
You should try some hydroponics yourself! I think it will quickly fill in some of your questions and give you a concrete understanding of the challenges. Short answer: Soil and sun do a lot, replacing them requires many inputs and sensors
- 7thaccount 6y ago
  It's on my to-do list. I could see the need for light and moisture sensors, as well as nutrient bath flow sensors. Not sure what all else besides temperature and humidity.
4b11b4 6y ago
Also EE getting deep into gardening, plants, soil web, etc. Haven't tried hydroponics but doing site prep for a greenhouse (Growing Spaces kit) where I will have an aquaponic setup. I would recommend learning about soil and fungi. You will be less interested in electronics and computers afterwards...

nicwilson 6y ago

Ah good, you are still hiring. I sent you an email a couple of weeks ago but never heard back, I guess I got stuck in your transition from angel.co or got sent to spam? I'll send another.