Farmwise - autonomous robot for sustainable weeding of sugar beet

Project information
The project will develop an autonomous robot allowing >50 % herbicide reduction in sugar beet weeding. New weed detection vision algorithms will be developed and ported to a graphics processing unit. A low-power robotic arm and robust multi-sensor navigation will be designed. Five solar-powered prototypes will be validated in real operation. The robot will significantly reduce weeding cost, allowing return on investment in 3 years. The project is aimed at distributing the robot in all of Europe, with envisaged sales of 1000 robots per year from 2018 on.
Project dates: 
May 2014 to November 2015
Contact
Contact person: 
Didier Rizzotti
Contact email: 
Contact organisation: 
HE-ARC University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland
Funding
Funding agency: 
Commission for Technology and Innovation
Grant: 
k€174