Bringing the farmer perspective to agricultural robots
From farming controllers and smart implements to fully autonomous farming systems, Robs4Crops is helping farmers fill labour shortages — shaking up the farming landscape.
Time for change in our changing times
Farmers are grappling with many challenges, including lavor shortages, soaring costs of
essential resources like fertilizer, seeds, fuel, and farming equipment, and the disruptive impacts of climate change. These challenges are making it tough for farmers to adapt and
succeed in the changing agricultural landscape. They need to be resilient and resourceful to
overcome these obstacles.
Robs4Crops- Helping farmers to thrive
The EU funded project ROBS4CROPS aspires to deliver a labour saving, fully autonomous robotic system for spraying and mechanical weeding, together with a supporting ecosystem, ready for wide-scale adoption. Featuring smart implements, autonomous vehicles, and high- level software for planning and scheduling, this innovative system will help farmers reduce
labour requirements and reduce costs.
Robotics, AI and the future of food
Our flexible and modular new-generation system will greatly reduce the dependency of farmers on hired labour, increase safety, and reduce the use of inputs and the overall carbon footprint of food production. Robs4Crops focuses on the most demanding and repetitive field operations, namely mechanical weed control and spraying against pests and diseases.
Smart implements
Sprayer implements will support the entire application loop ranging from perception up to decision and actuation. Weeding implements like IC-aweeder from Steketee will be equipped with additional sensors to assess in real-time the effectiveness of the implement
Autonomous vehicles
Autonomous robots/tractors with a sensing of environment, localisation and navigation that are able to communicate with smart implements.
Farming controller
Planning and scheduling software. The Farming controller uses Digital Twin technology for pro-active and reactive planning and scheduling. Data is stored in FMIS/ERP, along with all other information needed by the Farming controller.
"Agriculture is very sensitive to the cost and scarcity of labour. And making cultivation practices more efficient and sustainable is critical. Robs4Crops is a game-changer in revitalising the European food and farm industry and the vital catalyst in accelerating the adoption of high-tech robotics and automated technologies in agriculture."
Dr Frits van Evert
Senior Scientist at Wageningen University &
Research and Robs4Crops Project Coordinator
Research and Robs4Crops Project Coordinator
Large scale- pilots
ROBS4CROPS is demonstrating robotic farming in large-scale pilots in four European countries. From mechanical weeding and table grape spraying in vineyards to mechanical weeding in arable crops and apple orchards spraying, these pilots are organised in The Netherlands, France, Spain, and Greece. In each pilot, farmers, engineers, and scientists are jointly working to establish robotic spraying and weeding in farming practice. Large-scale trials will serve as a “proof testing” of the technical advances and demonstrators of socio-economic benefits and business potential of the Robs4Crops robotic farming system; to be established in four countries, scaling it up to a wide network.
A Note from the Coordinator
“Agriculture is very sensitive to the cost and scarcity of labour. And making cultivation practices more efficient and sustainable is critical. Robs4Crops is a game-changer in revitalising the European food and farm industry and the vital catalyst in accelerating the adoption of high-tech robotics and automated technologies in agriculture.”
Dr Frits van Evert, Senior Scientist at Wageningen University & Research and Robs4Crops Project Coordinator
The trials will be conducted in partnership with commercial farms and business leaders from France, Greece, Spain, and The Netherlands.
Design used to be the seasoning
Design is everywhere. From the dress you’re wearing to the smartphone you’re holding, it’s design. If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.
- 50+ Predesigned Templates
- World class support
- Free lifetime updates
Mainstreaming robotic farming
We put the farmers and end-users at the heart of everything we do: from user requirements analysis to iterative testing and the business model experimentation process. The trials will be conducted in partnership with commercial farms and business leaders from France, Greece, Spain, and The Netherlands.
A wide ecosystem – bringing together all the different private and public players (e.g., farmers, retailers, regulatory
bodies, technology providers, citizens) in a co-innovation dynamic to support all aspects of the practical application of
agricultural robots.
Robotic farming system using knowledge from industrial manufacturing to achieve full
autonomy, and that fits with existing agricultural machinery, practices, and standards.
Large-scale trials will serve as a “proof testing” of the technical advances and demonstrators of socio-economic benefits and business potential of the Robs4Crops robotic farming system; to be established in four countries, scaling it up to a wide network.
Our Partners
Robs4Crops is a four-year project co-funded under Horizon 2020, the EU research and innovation programme. Led by Wageningen University and Research, the consortium is a diverse and dynamic network of partners, representing key players in pure robotic science and engineering, agricultural robotics industry, agricultural and social sciences, real-world farming, and sustainability-driven innovation practices and collaborative business models.
Robs4Crops will accelerate the shift towards large-scale implementation of robotics and automation in European farming. With a €7.9 million budget co-funded by the European Union, the project represents a high-tech paradigm shift with a tremendous potential impact on productivity, efficiency, and environmental sustainability.
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.
Project Coordination
Wageningen University & Research
Department of Agrosystems Research
PO Box 16
6700 AA Wageningen
The Netherlands
info@robs4crops.eu
Project Communication
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101016807.
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