The role of robotics is promising for accelerating the agro-ecological transition of agricultural models, preserving the soil, reducing the drudgery of operators and the noise of work sites. What are the prospects for beet farming?
Le Betteravier français
The trade journal Le Betteravier français has published a detailed article on robotisation as a response to the reduction in work rates caused by agroecology. Our technology is cited as an example.
→ Read article online (on subscription)
While we are still waiting for the first autonomous tractor to appear on the market, robotisation for treatments is becoming more widespread. We take a look at the latest developments at Agrama, which opens today in Berne.
Terre & Nature
The Swiss weekly magazine Terre & Nature reports on the adoption of robotics and autonomous vehicles in Switzerland. It uses AVO and ARA as an example.
Spot-spraying, a method now being explored by all the big names in agricultural mechanics, from Berthoud to John Deere, is coming to the fields, but with a tractor and driver. It's the ideal compromise," says Nicolas Pavillard, a member of the Le Grillon farming community, which farms 230 hectares in Orges (VD), and an agricultural entrepreneur who acquired an SCBA this spring. Its use corresponds more to my working habits than delegating everything to the machine: we continue to treat ourselves, and with an interesting work rate.
Terre & Nature
→ Read article online (in French)
The Ara mounted sprayer from Switzerland's Ecorobotix performs targeted treatments with unprecedented precision
RÉUSSIR Machinisme
During SIMA 2022, the French specialised website RÉUSSIR Machinisme published a detailed article on Ecorobotix. It also carried an interview with our Chief Business Officer, Claude Juriens.
Watch the interview with Claude Juriens ????
Ecorobotix launches ultra-precise ARA spotsprayer
Ahead of upcoming Paris trade show SIMA, Swiss company Ecorobotix just started marketing its high-precision mounted sprayer ARA. The tool has proved its worth on meadows and is now ready for many row crops, from beetroot to field vegetables and rape.
La France Agricole
La France Agricole released a detailed article presenting our ARA device, its technical and performance details.
→ Read article online (in French)
The plant protection product sprayer developed by the Y-Parc firm allows enormous savings in chemicals in the fields. The order book is already full.
24 Heures
Swiss newspaper 24 Heures published a detailed article on our technology and its performance, particularly in terms of reducing the use of plant protection products.
→ Read the article online (on subscription)
Technical solutions for vegetable production
Vegetable Growing Field Day at Queckbrunnerhof
The Palatinate Vegetable Growing Field Day at the Queckbrunnerhof near Schifferstadt at the beginning of September attracts vegetable growers and interested parties from all over Germany and neighbouring countries every year who want to find out about new products. At the machinery exhibition, technical solutions for mechanical weed control and plant protection as well as planting and sowing technology were discussed.The story features our technology, that was showcased by our partner Agravis:
"Effective and efficient: This is how dock control works"
German magazine Allgäuer Bauernblatt spoke with Claude Juriens, sales manager of Ecorobotix. They talked about the use of ARA in Swiss meadows and pastures. The article was featured in issue 36 (September 8, 2022).
Weeding is of strategic importance:
- for farmers (keeping plots clean)
- for farms and production plants (production quality)
- for public authorities (preservation of water quality and the environment)
To study the advantages of targeted spraying, ECO-PHYT' launched the Herbicible project with its partners: Bonduelle, Vitalis, Tereos, Sodeleg, Top Oignon, APEF, Servicar, et Gaya-Consultants.
→ Presentation of Project Herbicible (in French)
The Herbicible project is based on the ARA technology which allows the automated recognition and localised treatment of weeds, allowing to save up to 95% of herbicide per pass. Discover the video made for the project (in French)!
Agricultural robotics on the test bench
Ready-to-use agricultural robots offer great potential in both conventional and organic farming. They can automate labour-intensive mechanical weeding and much more.
The ARA precision sprayer from Ecorobotix enables "spot spraying," a plant-to-plant treatment.
→ Read article online (German, for subscribers)
Facial recognition for plants
Ara is an intelligent sprayer that focuses on individual plants. It works with cameras, a strobe light and artificial intelligence.
This article was published in issue 8-2022 of Profi, the German magazine for agricultural technology professionals. It provides in-depth information on the operation and performance of ARA.
The article is only available in German, but we used DeepL to offer an automated English version.
If you don't have time for the whole article, here are some interesting excerpts:
Depending on the application, savings of between 40 and 90 % are possible, according to the manufacturer. The system also offers enormous savings potential for the application of fungicides or insecticides to crops. The trick is that the machine only sprays where plants have grown. The nozzles switch off if there are any shortage.
Profi 8-2022
As a basis for image analysis, two camera units are installed in each spray bonnet, each monitoring a working width of one metre. An RGB camera and an infrared sensor are integrated in each unit. The camera takes up to five pictures per second. To ensure that the photos are always comparably exposed, there is a stroboscopic flash light that switches on and off synchronised with the photo recordings.
Profi 8-2022
As a basis for image analysis, two camera units are installed in each spray bonnet, each monitoring a working width of one metre. An RGB camera and an infrared sensor are integrated in each unit. The camera takes up to five pictures per second. To ensure that the photos are always comparably exposed, there is a stroboscopic flash light that switches on and off synchronised with the photo recordings.
Profi 8-2022