The Horizon 2020 project Robs4Crops is set to conclude on December 31, 2024, marking the culmination of nearly four years of ambitious and innovative work. Launched in January 2021 and coordinated by Dr. Frits van Evert, Senior Scientist at Wageningen University & Research, the project has pursued an ambitious goal: delivering a labor-saving, autonomous robotic system for spraying and mechanical weeding, supported by an ecosystem ready for wide-scale adoption.
Robs4Crops integrates smart implements, autonomous vehicles, and high-level software for planning and scheduling, addressing critical challenges faced by farmers today, such as reducing labor dependency and operational costs. Beyond technological advancements, the project has delivered multiple community benefits, including educational initiatives for the workforce, explorations of robo-ethics, insurance and financing solutions, and sustainable business models. Over its lifetime, Robs4Crops laid a roadmap for the successful exploitation and market deployment of its results.
Significant Achievements in Autonomous Robotics Achieved
One of Robs4Crops’ (R4C) central achievements has been defining and implementing a stepwise process for adopting the robotic farming system and its individual components. This approach ensures usability and readiness for farmers while generating reusable, non-commercial outputs.
Step 1: Awareness
Building awareness was the foundation for adoption. Robs4Crops utilized different communication channels to engage a broad audience of stakeholders, including farmers, agribusinesses, schools, and investors. These efforts extended the project’s reach across Europe, facilitated by project partners active in Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs).
The next steps for the project regarding raising awareness will be: website maintenance, dissementation of results through publications, conferences, tech briefs, webinars, and other forms of outreach, engaging stakeholders and building long-term relationships, facilitating knowledge transfer to relevant stakeholders, such as industry professionals, academic institutions, or policymakers, and more.
Step 2: Demonstration
Large-scale pilot (LSP) demonstrations in France, Greece, Spain, and the Netherlands showcased the socio-economic impact of the Robs4Crops robotic solutions in real farming environments.
“The problem of the lack of availiability of labor and the cost of labor plays a role in all of European farming. Our Greek pilot is focused on smart spraying of table grapes, but we are also working on apple spraying in Spain, mechanical weeding of sugarbeets in Netherlands, as well as weeding in vineyards in France. In each case, we used the same idea – a robot replacing the farmer on the tractor and the necesarry implements needed to be attached to the robot in order to perform the action.”
Dr. Frits van Evert, coordinator of Robs4Crops
The demonstrations engaged farming organizations and networks, creating a ripple effect of knowledge transfer to other farmers and building a Network-of-Interest. Farmers were optimistic about the potential benefits of the showcased systems while underscoring the need for further refinement. The latest demonstration season showcased the transformative potential of advanced agricultural technologies, emphasizing the need for continued innovation. Advances in navigation, precision implements, and autonomous operations provide a strong foundation for future applications, thanks to the collaborative efforts of technical teams, farmers, and research partners, paving the way for broader adoption in agriculture. Best practices and lessons learned from the demonstrations are available on the Robs4Crops website page dedicated to LSPs and YouTube channel.
Step 3: Integration
The R4C robotic farming system features a modular design combining hardware, software, and communication tools (such as APIs and middleware) to enable seamless operation of smart implements, such as weeders and sprayers. These implements are carried or towed by autonomous vehicles (like CEOL and Robotti robots or retrofitted tractors) and coordinated by the Farming Controller, an advanced planning and scheduling software. While the equipment and robotic systems are closer to real-world usability than at the project’s start, challenges remain, as some systems still require improvements in robustness to ensure consistent performance in farming environments.
A key component of the robotic system is the Cost Analysis Tool, available on the official website, which helps farmers and advisors compare the economic and environmental performance of autonomous robotic systems against conventional methods. By offering a user-friendly assessment of farm-level costs and benefits, this tool supports informed decision-making and highlights the economic and environmental advantages of adopting robotic technology.
Step 4: Strategize
Robs4Crops adopted a holistic Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) business model, enabling small and medium-sized farms to access robotic solutions without substantial upfront investments. Complemented by the Open-Source Digital Twin, this approach ensures customization, cost-efficiency, and scalability for diverse agricultural needs. European small and medium size farms are recognized as early adopters of R4C system, wanting to optimize and automate their farming operations, and RaaS can allow farmers to adopt the system without investing a large amount of capital upfront in robotics equipment.
On the other hand, the main R4C concept for simulating, optimizing, and accelerating the deployment of robotic farming solutions is explained the book chapter “Implementing a Digital Twin for Flexible Operation of Agricultural Robotics”. The basic version of the framework is available for free on GitHub.
The Open-Source Farming Controller and Digital Twin are released under the EUPL licence for developers, agricultural engineers and start-ups in the field, as well as students, and in a broader sense – scientific community. The open-source code allows reduction of development costs (compared to closed source software) and enables customization for diverse agricultural needs, in a user-friendly environment.
Step 5: Market Entry
A robust Exploitation Strategy and Sustainability Plan outlines the pathway for turning Robs4Crops’ innovations into market-ready solutions. Through a detailed SWOT analysis, the team identified entry barriers and devised strategies to overcome them, ensuring a promising return on investment for future adopters.
Robs4Crops: A Collaborative Legacy
Over the past four years, Robs4Crops has united 16 partners from 7 countries, demonstrating the power of international collaboration in advancing agricultural robotics. By putting farmers and end-users at the forefront from user requirements analysis to iterative testing and the business model experimentation process, the project has worked to normalise the integration of robotics in agriculture, addressing misconceptions and paving the way for broader adoption.
As the project concludes, the Robs4Crops website remains a valuable resource for accessing project findings, tools, and insights that promise to shape the future of sustainable, automated farming.
