Innovate Utah: NEW IDEAS, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FROM UTAH COMPANIES

FireFly Automatix Inc., a Salt Lake City-based manufacturer of turfgrass equipment, has introduced its M100-AV turf mower, the company’s first all-electric autonomous mower. The company demonstrated the new machine on DeBuck’s New Lawn Sod Farm in Belleville, Michigan, during the Turfgrass Producers International convention held in Detroit in late July.

The M100-AV commercial reel mower cuts a 100-inch-wide swath and operates without on-site supervision. It includes LiDAR-enabled obstacle detection and avoidance along with intelligent path planning, so no boundary wires are needed, and mowing patterns can be optimized for maximum efficiency.

Powered by an advanced LiFePO4 battery, the M100-AV can quietly mow up to 25 acres per charge at speeds of{mprestriction ids="1,3"} seven acres per hour and recharge in two hours. With no gasoline or operating emissions, the mower is predicted to decrease fuel costs by 87 percent, as well as reducing owners’ carbon footprints.

“It has been incredible engineering this product from the ground up with such a talented and passionate team,” said Mark LeBlanc, the project’s head engineer. “The culture here at FireFly is what allowed our engineering team to dream big and achieve a level of excellence that will bring electric and autonomous technology to the mowing world in an incredible way.”

“I am highly impressed by the innovative FireFly reel automatic mower. Its cutting performance produces truly beautiful results, and the capability to program various mowing angles is truly astonishing,” said Scott DeBuck, owner of the demonstration’s host farm. “Owning a mower like this would be a dream come true, and I firmly believe that the industry as a whole would greatly benefit from such a remarkable invention.”

The University of Utah Orthopaedic Innovation Center has received approval from the FDA to market a new system for fixing bone fractures called the Bone Bolt System. The system is a novel implant system for percutaneous bone fracture fixation and includes implants of various lengths and diameters, along with associated surgical instruments. The implants are used to treat challenging bone fractures, such as pelvic fractures and fractures of the long bones in the arm and leg. “This achievement demonstrates the commitment by the department to bring new and innovative solutions to advance the quality of orthopaedic patient care,” said Dr. Darrel S. Brodke, chair of the Department of Orthopaedics. “It is the collaboration between our clinical faculty, trainees, our discovery research group and our innovation research group that led to this advancement.” 

Vivint Smart Home, a Provo-based home automation company, has introduced Vivint Smart Lighting, a lighting solution that Vivint said makes homes safer, smarter and more sustainable. The system consists of the Vivint Smart Light Switch, smart bulbs and the Vivint Smart Lighting Bridge that provides communication with an existing Vivint smart home system. “Smart lighting has been one of our top requested categories and we’re thrilled to bring this experience to customers,” said Jim Nye, chief product officer at Vivint. “In developing Vivint Smart Lighting, our goal was to create the most user-friendly and effective lighting solution that overcomes common pain points and integrates seamlessly with the Vivint platform. We’re excited to bring this new category to the Vivint suite and to continue expanding the power of our smart home ecosystem.”

Return Healthy, a natural supplement company based in St. George, has launched its Cell Stabilization line of supplements. The company said the line is designed to help people fight the effects of aging, stress and environmental toxins on their cells with its key ingredient, phospholipids, which heal and repair cell and mitochondrial membranes, remove damaged and oxidized membrane components, and cell-level environmental toxins and then shepherd them through the detoxification and elimination system. “We are excited to introduce our Cell Stabilization line of supplements that will provide an effective solution for those looking to combat the effects of aging, stress and environmental toxins,” said Dr. Werner Vosloo, founder and clinical director of Return Healthy. “Our team has worked diligently to develop this innovative product line that is backed by years of clinical work.”

Salt Lake City-based PDQ, a provider of IT asset management software, has launched PDQ Connect, an advanced device management tool to keep Windows machines patched and secure — no matter where the devices are located. The standalone solution extends PDQ’s suite of existing on-premises software management products, PDQ Deploy & Inventory, by bringing the same core Windows device management capabilities to the cloud. “With the release of PDQ Connect, we’re excited to offer sysadmins a more complete suite of IT management tools,” said Mark Littlefield, vice president of product at PDQ. “PDQ Deploy & Inventory have been widely embraced by the sysadmin community for over a decade, with over 20,000 customers today. PDQ Connect builds upon the success of these platforms to provide a solution that meets the needs of an increasingly remote workforce.”

Cricut Inc. of South Jordan, a creative technology company, is now marketing its Cricut Venture, a new large-format cutting machine. Cricut Venture cuts a wide variety of materials at commercial speeds, as well as writes, scores and foils. Cricut Venture is the largest cutting machine offered by Cricut, able to cut up to 75 feet of repeated images. It is also the company’s fastest machine with a cutting speed of up to 25 inches per second. “Our platform is designed to inspire through project creation and sharing that helps celebrate milestones, and customize everyday lives,” said Ashish Arora, Cricut CEO. “We created Cricut Venture for incredibly enthusiastic makers and those who sell their crafts. With the help of Cricut Venture and the full Cricut platform, our community members can bring their large-format dreams to life.”

ELB Learning, an American Fork-based marketer of learning products, has introduced a fully customizable platform for creating and authoring learning experiences called The Studio. The Studio brings together ELB technology to create and author learning experiences through a streamlined user experience, the company said. Users can now activate each ELB product, feature and service individually to create a customized subscription plan that fits each enterprise’s needs. “We started ELB Learning with the goal of empowering businesses to deliver more engaging, effective and interactive learning,” said Andrew Scivally, co-founder and CEO of ELB Learning. “Over the last few years, we have strategically acquired and developed best-of-breed products to build out our technology capabilities, and while the launch of The Studio is a culmination of these efforts, it’s more than simply bundling our products together.”

Badlands Ranch, a pet nutrition brand based in Park City, has introduced Super 20, its first venture into the pet supplement category. It is designed to support a dog’s “good health, energy, immune function, skin and coat health, smooth digestion and happiness,” Badlands Ranch said. “As a holistic veterinarian, I highly recommend Badlands Ranch Super20 Premium Dog supplement for its exceptional blend of naturally derived ingredients,” said Dr. Lindsey Wendt, veterinarian advisor to Badlands Ranch. “The ingredients in Super20 offer comprehensive support for your canine companion’s joints, vision, immune system and overall well-being.” Super20 offers a solution to combat everyday negative triggers and support a dog’s health. The product features a blend of canine herbs, including mushrooms, milk thistle and ashwagandha, as well as green-lipped mussels, astaxanthin antioxidant and an Omega 3 complex.{/mprestriction}