Within the Interreg project Smart Farming & Food Processing Businesses, knowledge institutions, farmers and food processing companies are collaborating on smart innovations. From autonomous laser weeding to AI-driven drones: a lot is happening and how great is it to see ideas that were once on the drawing board now becoming reality? Below you will find an update on the projects and the steps that have already been taken.
Arms Wide Open – Meulwaeter / Trabotyx
Trabotyx is developing a robot that removes weeds using a laser. The first field tests show that the robot can operate autonomously and is becoming increasingly accurate. Intensive testing will take place over the coming months to refine the results.
Robotics for weed control – Meulwaeter / Odd.bot
Odd.bot focuses on a robot that recognises weeds in onion and carrot fields and carries out weeding tasks. Both in the field and in a controlled environment, many promising results have already been achieved. Thanks to the data collected, the robot is becoming smarter and more effective step by step.
Optimising Packing Line – Boerschappen / Actitec / Cboost
Automatically recognising, sorting and packing produce: that is the ambition of this project. Because fruit and vegetables don't have standard dimensions, this presents an extra challenge. The vision software is already working in simulation and the physical line is currently being built. From this autumn, the first live tests will follow, a major milestone!
Zonkrachtige work assistant – Van de Pallande / Fieldworkers
The sun-powered work assistant is an autonomous, solar-powered implement carrier, designed and developed for small-scale agriculture. The vehicle is already operational in the field and will be further developed in the near future to function truly autonomously. New functionalities, such as hoeing, are also being added. This innovation has already made a strong impression during demonstrations.
Flex inlay and packaging – Bio Bakkerij de Trog / Amtra
In this process, the focus is on the automatic packaging of rolls, while maintaining both speed and quality. The robot arm has been successfully tested and will soon be moved to the bakery for practical trials. Large-scale application is therefore drawing ever closer.
Broccoli processing line – Verschuren Broccoli / VBTI / BROM
Defects in broccoli are recognised and removed using vision technology. The line is already operational at Verschuren and the AI model is continuously being improved with new data. In this way, the system is growing into an innovative, fully integrated solution.
Scarecrow – Goossens Malderen / Avular / Qualified / Datacation
This drone-based solution helps to deter birds from agricultural areas in an animal-friendly way. The AI model recognises birds ever better and the first flights show that the system is effective at driving them away. The power of this innovation increases with every dataset.
Dripcontrol – Miedevia / Didex
Drones that detect irrigation leaks provide significant efficiency gains. Thermal maps already make leaks visible, and AI is set to fully automate the analysis. Initial presentations attracted considerable interest and demonstrated the enormous potential.