Biotech company ‘Potbotics’ is attempting to revolutionize the medical marijuana world by applying robotics and artificial intelligence to current conundrums that are vulnerable to human error. Potbotics is a company looking to simultaneously roll out three separate products.
One is a brain scanning product named the ‘Brainbot’ that would replace the traditional Budtender (exactly what it sounds like), and the computer would prescribe you strains of medical marijuana based on your brain activity and the disease that you might be suffering from.
Another product, PotBot, you can see above. It’s more or less the consumer-facing version of the Brainbot. Where the Brainbot uses EEG scans to diagnose a medical need, the PotBot uses subjective information put into the system by the purchaser, and makes weed strain recommendations based on that information. PotBot is removing the need for a physical budtender at dispensaries, and cutting down on the chance that a human budtender might make errors in the diagnosing process.
FastCompany put up a lengthy piece yesterday on PotBotics and ‘PotBot’:
PotBot is also a tool for personalized marijuana selection—albeit one that’s based more on subjective user input. When it launches in the next one or two months, PotBot will consist of a smartphone app, a website, and a robotic kiosk for dispensaries that recommend cannabis types based on ailments reported by the user.
“We don’t talk about taste, flavor, or smell, and we stray away from strain names,” says Goldstein. “Strain names aren’t tied to medical benefits because certain strains at different dispensaries don’t give the same therapeutic relief since their cannabinoid levels are different.” Cannabinoids, like CBD, have different medical properties. Patients aren’t given a strain name, like Blue Dream, by PotBot—instead, they are told the balance of different cannabinoids that they should be looking for.
The third product being pioneered by PotBotics is the ‘NanoPot’ line, in which they’ll be using DNA readers to scan seeds and plants in order to optimize a farmer’s yield. From the PotBotics website:
NanoPot is an advanced DNA reader that scans cannabis seeds to optimize growers’ yields. By using gene-radar technology to rapidly and accurately detect genetic fingerprints from cannabis seeds, cannabis cultivators can both understand the seed’s molecular biology and more effectively breed plants that benefit specific ailments. With NanoPot, cultivators get a fully customized growth plan with optimal amounts of irrigation, sunlight, UV films and nano fertilizers to use when growing specific strains and hybrids, reducing their reliance on outdated techniques for maximizing cannabis growth yields.
As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, today is 4/20, the unofficial ‘Stoner Holiday’. I’ve been guilty of sharing a TON of low hanging fruit content this morning, such as ‘Ex-Cops Smoking Weed’ For The First Time Since Leaving The Force and Australian Actor Shows Up To 4/20 Protest After Dude Gets Busted, Gives Must See Interview, but I have to admit that it’s pretty cool on this ‘Day of Pot’ to read about some serious technological advances taking place in the filed of marijuana.
For more on PotBotics’ offerings you can head on over to their website, or check out Fast Company’s in-depth reporting.