Dutch Robotics Company Developing Leaf Cutting Robot
SAIA Agrobotics, a tech spin-off from Netherlands-based Wageningen University & Research, will further develop its technology for greenhouse robotics with investments from the technology transfer funds of Innovation Industries, SHIFT Invest, and the ION+ fund managed by Oost NL.
SAIA Agrobotics develops robots that can take over human actions in greenhouses. For growers with greenhouses, it is becoming increasingly problematic to find employees. This trend is not entirely unexpected, because the work in a greenhouse is physically demanding and monotonous. The global demand for automation in this sector is high.
“With this investment, we hope to be able to provide a grower solution as soon as possible,” says Ruud Barth, CEO of SAIA Agrobotics. “Over the past 20 years, Wageningen University & Research has gained a lot of experience in greenhouse horticulture with robots. We see that the technology is now ready for commercial use.”
SAIA’s focus is on robotizing human actions in the greenhouse.
“For example, cutting the leaves or harvesting, which is currently all manual work, but something that can also be done by a robot. For a regular-sized greenhouse, we are already talking about tens of millions of leaves and fruits that have to be cut or picked each year,” Barth says. “We see that robots can now gradually take over this manual work; technology has improved rapidly in recent times.”
In 1999, a harvesting robot for cucumber was developed at Wageningen. In the following two decades, the group Agro Food Robotics achieved state-of-the-art market-ready technologies, which were combined into a sweet pepper harvesting robot.
Learn more about SAIA’s latest development, a leaf harvesting robot prototype with the agROBOfood Innovation Hub, here.
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