The geek who keeps an eye on things
Since he was very young, Francis Rousseau has racked his brains to discover what is hidden in the belly of technological gadgets. He takes great pleasure in pushing the boundaries of IT and strives to harness the sciences of the future to the current needs of businesses. After dreaming of space conquests, the guy from Mont-Laurier landed in the open countryside. He was recruited by the Agrilog firm which asked him to develop the Silog, an intelligent silo which optimally and autonomously manages the ventilation of precious grains.
It was a guidance counselor from the Cégep du Vieux Montréal who allowed Francis to find his way to Damascus: industrial maintenance. But beware ! This is not just a job as a mechanic who fixes systems when they crash. You have to know how to juggle preventive aspects, know the interactions between the different systems, the working condition of the devices and predict when, in the coming hours, weeks or months, this or that part will need to be replaced, taking into account the costs. and logistics of production shutdown during maintenance. A whole equation with multiple unknowns!
To reach the fourth dimension of the industrial revolution, Francis Rousseau first completed a baccalaureate in production engineering at ÉTS, completed several internships at Tesla, the iconic electric car manufacturer from Palo Alto, and completed a master's degree focused on Internet of Things technology and Industry 4.0. With all this fuel of knowledge, Francis has all the tools to guide a company towards data management. In a simplistic way, it involves collecting all the data, studying all their interactions and then making decisions in real time using computer systems. In short, we are far from the farmers who wet their index finger to see the direction of the wind.
“We do not assess all the levels of risk that agriculture entails. To increase his income, the producer must ensure that after all the efforts of sowing, growing and harvesting, the quality of his grain is maintained until he sells it. The logistical aspect of grain storage interests me a lot. I understood that there was great potential in agriculture for automation and system optimization. I wanted to combine system optimization, connectivity with connected objects, Internet of Things and Industry 4.0. It's done ! »
Many agricultural businesses are behind schedule. While storing their grain, producers still limit themselves to letting the ventilation run for a number of hours or weeks without controlling the vagaries of the weather. If they ventilate during rainy periods, it adds moisture to the grain. If they do this when it is too hot, the grain dries out and loses quality.
With Silog, the system autonomously analyzes and manages weather conditions and takes control of the silo according to the producer's recommendations. A producer who can be anywhere on the planet to activate the ventilation if he wishes before starting to sing “ Meunier, tu dors ” again, without fearing that his mill will go too fast or too loud. In addition to determining the performance of the fan, the CO2 sensors inside the silos are even capable of detecting the presence of insects that pay a price. snack on the farmer's arm.
At 27, Francis still finds time to have fun. At home, he continues to eat 4.0 and he still supports the ÉTS student club by helping them develop their own… rocket engines! We therefore understand that he will go high and far in life.
