2025 Fall Farm Outlook Lincoln Daily News Oct 2025 Page 25 AgriTalk interview in which Chip Flory interviewed Ben Johnson and Zane Zents about the remote-controlled grain weevil robot they had designed. Zents told Flory he became interested in working on the project after Johnson explained the safety aspects and the people they could help. In the interview, Zents said “after hearing some farmers talk about how they lost loved ones, I got really passionate about the project.” The electronics Johnson and Zents were working on were cutting edge, which also helped Zents become passionate about it. Flory asked Johnson what they learned at the University of Nebraska that helped with the development of the project. Johnson said the technical knowledge came from what they learned. Neither Johnson nor Zents were raised on a farm and before they started the project, they had never been in a grain bin. Johnson said what they learned from farmers cannot be measured because it was the most important thing in designing the robot. When asked how the robot worked, Zents told Flory the robot uses two augers and an auger drive system, and it manipulates the top of the grain basically shifting it around like you would with a shovel. It can break up crusts,
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