The Tecnova Foundation will coordinate a research project aimed at creating a robot capable of, among other functions, harvesting and packing tomatoes, preparing them for their sale to consumers anywhere in the world.
The research project is called Agronauta (Automation of agronomic work in intensive farms by means of robotics), an experimental development project with the challenge of transforming and revolutionising the production model of vine tomatoes with a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach.
Participating entities
The project, to be developed within a period of four years from 2015, will be implemented through the cooperation of 7 entities: SERFRUIT, S.A. (Coordinator); Tecnologías de Automatización y Control, TAUCON, S.A.; Ingeniería de Aplicaciones, S.A.; Grupo HISPATEC Informática Empresarial, S.A.U.; Novedades Agrícolas, S.A.; Sistema AZUD, S.A. y ULMA Packaging, S.COOP., which will work in partnership with seven research organisations, including Tecnova Foundation, the University of Almeria, Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation, Universitat de Girona, CEBAS-CSIC, ULMA Technological Center and IK4-IKERLAN.
Budget
The project will require a private investment amounting to over 7 million Euro, which will be funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Multi-Regional Operational Programme for Smart Growth (the CIEN Strategic Programme).
The robot
The combined efforts of the associated entities will be aimed at developing a new revolutionary production system, based on the use of a mobile robot in the intensive cultivation of vine tomatoes, capable of performing smart harvesting and analysis thanks to cutting edge environment and automation control. It will aim to simplify the production process, ensuring efficiency, lower costs, potential for development, flexibility and reliability.
In this sense, Agronauta is committed to significantly improving crop production techniques, such as climatic control, irrigation, automation, intelligence, computer vision and robotics. The system will be completed with the development of new packaging systems, to be installed at the farm itself, as well as global production management software able to manage and forecast demand.
Source: hortoinfo.es
