A game-changer in revitalising the European food and farm industry

With growers reporting a shortage of workers, Robs4Crops hopes to accelerate a shifttowards large-scale implementation of robotics and automation
in European farming.

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AI, robotics, and automation

Disruptive technologies in agricultural operations

Robs4Crops focuses on the most demanding and repetitive field operations, specifically mechanical weed control and spraying against pests and diseases. The new flexible and modular systems will greatly reduce the dependency on hired labour, increase safety, and be more environmentally friendly,

Farmers

Farmers are being hit by falling commodity prices, labour shortages, and difficulties related to planting and harvesting crops – particularly during the pandemic, which has left fields of fruit and vegetables unharvested because thousands of seasonal workers were unable to travel to work due to the virus.

Robotics and automated solutions therefore offer the greatest opportunity for savings, safety, and increased productivity. Robotics and related technologies bring precision and repeatability to mundane tasks, reducing the need for farmers to engage in work that is unpleasant, unhealthy and requires zero thinking.

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As a result of the coronavirus, there is now heavy investment in robotics and automation in agriculture, but agricultural robots are not yet reaching their potential because they are used as stand-alone units rather than as part of a complete, innovative robotic system.

Driving robotics into mainstream

In an attempt to make robotic farming mainstream, Robs4Crops aims to provide a safe testing ground for iterative development and innovation through a network of collaborating partners.

Via trials in four countries – the Netherlands, France, Spain and Greece — Robs4Crops hopes to create a robotic farming solution consisting of three elements: smart implements, autonomous vehicles, and the farming controller. Existing agricultural machinery and tractors will be upgraded so that, together with existing agricultural robots, they can function as parts of a robotic system. Development and testing will take place in practice, under real operating conditions, in the four countries.

Mechanical weeding in vineyards

Traditional mechanical weeding is not economically viable long-term. Robs4Crops applies fully integrated crop management system to reduce the use of chemicals and hazardous work.

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Mechanical Weed Control in Vegetable Production

Efficient weeding robots can differentiate and remove inter-and intra-row weeds simultaneously, while identifying and providing species information. In this pilot site, we design an integrated weed control system to meet the requirements of heavy load and efficient weeding in the field.

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Table Grape Spraying

In the last years, the commercial interest in table grapes has increased. However, table grape berries must be of good external quality and attractive appearance to meet the market specifications. Reducing the number of labour hours required mainly for table grapes spraying, is a major production constraint…

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Targeted Spraying In Apple Orchards

While most of the apples from Catalonia are usually exported, the demand in the domestic market is currently high. To improve crop yielding, a large amount of fungicides is continuously applied in orchards.

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Crop Rotation in Potato Farming Systems

The Netherlands is the world leader in the potato industry in terms of potato production, potato exports, and potato processing. In this testing site, we replace heavy machinery fleets by 1/3.

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Robotic farming moving to larger scale

Our newsletter covers the most exciting topics in robotic farming, carefully curated by our team. Keep up to date with the latest developments and technologies, upcoming events, and details on Robs4Crops pilots.

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