With 60,000 operating hours to its credit, Naïo is now looking to leverage its extensive experience with new customers for the vineyard.

“In France, TED is already at work for big brands such as Hennessy and Grands Chais de France. We have acquired a great deal of expertise on American soil with Dino: now that we have eight robots in service and over 5,000 hectares weeded, it is time for Naïo to expand its presence in the United States on the wine-growing market with TED, but also with our historical robot Oz which is about to become available throughout the United States thanks to a distribution network that is currently being deployed,”

adds Julien Laffont, Strategy and Development Manager at Naïo Technologies.

A Naïo USA office is already established with a team of 14 people

In response to a local market and to growing demands, Naïo has consolidated an office in the United States in Salinas, California.

It is a team of 14 people who work in a territory covering the whole of California, all the way down to Arizona. With Ingrid Sarlandie recently joining the team as Chief Operation Officer (COO), Naïo US reinforces its positioning:

“Naïo Technologies is the TESLA of agricultural robotics,”

says Ingrid Sarlandie.

New robots for 2022

CES 2022 will therefore mark the beginning of a year filled with new developments for Naïo Technologies.

New robots will complement its existing range of three, with the promise of a controlled, proven, and easy-to-use navigation and to its patented safety system. The team will be strengthened by new hires, in order to meet the growing demand.

The post Naïo’s Vineyard Robot TED Hits the US at CES 2022 appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

“This panel discussion is intended to identify the challenges that farmers are facing and where the real opportunities might be in automating some of the tasks they have. We’re doing something that some of the major manufacturers do. They start at the end-client level and understand what the farmers’ challenges are so that they can create the technologies that automate certain tasks. That’s really the premise of this panel: If you had to draw a robot from scratch, what would these advancing technologies address in your agronomic operation?”

Frabotta says.

The roundtable discussion will also dive into the ways that some advancing technologies have failed to deliver on their promises. One area of innovation stands out as having been particularly disappointing.

“As an industry, there is some frustration that full autonomy has not been more prolific and commercialized at a faster pace. This speaks to the complexities of level-five autonomy and fully autonomous vehicles. I think the promise of such things has been overhyped and ultimately disappointing,”

Frabotta says.

Frabotta gives an example from the automotive industry. Tesla recently halted the rollout of its Full Self Driving beta software update. Even the name of this driving mode is somewhat facetious. Experts have described it as “enhanced cruise control” rather than a true self-driving vehicle. Frabotta notes that some overly ambitious agriculture technology companies have made similar claims then failed to deliver. While the results have been disappointing, there’s a genuine opportunity for technology companies and robotics manufacturers to improve future offerings.

“As we realize the complexities of that kind of fully autonomous technology, it forces us to examine what’s really necessary. There are always going to be tasks that are easier for farmers to manage. They don’t necessarily want machines to make decisions about those things because they want to be in control,”

Frabotta says.

It’s also important to note that not all of the market’s innovations have been lackluster. Frabotta says that variable-rate technologies have been rather successful. While the fertilizer sector helped to popularize variable-rate applications, he believes that crop protection will be the next frontier for these types of technologies, particularly in situations where the inputs are costly.

“With the variable-rate application of any input, there’s going to cost savings because it is site-specific and not broad-spectrum or broadly applied. I do think farmers are interested in learning about those opportunities, but in this World FIRA session, the farmers can really pinpoint what they want automated. They will talk about the things that might be monopolizing their time or energy, and by managing those things, the farmers can focus on the profitability of their operations,”

Frabotta says.

At the end of the day, that ability to succeed in this industry is what connects each of the panelists, despite their many differences in location, environment, crop mix, operation size, regulatory standards, and more.

“A lot of these farmers are going to be specific to orchards, vineyards, row crops, etc., but there is some commonality to what they’re all facing. They all have export markets; they all have a need for profitability. And really, what we’re talking about isn’t about technology. It’s about the profitability of the farm. Any way we can create a conversation that helps farmers evaluate their current and potential profit, I think that will resonate across all the different production systems,”

Frabotta says.

Source: Agricultural Robotics

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With a series of optimizations, GEA is launching a new generation of the DairyRobot R9500 and DairyProQ automatic milking systems, which bring significant enhancements to the milking technology module, the In-Liner Everything milking process, and the MilkRack milking unit, among other benefits. A new service concept also ensures improved serviceability, lower maintenance costs, and minimized system downtimes.

Rounding off the new-generation systems is a comprehensive software package to optimize the milking process. All in all, dairy farms benefit from increased availability, more milkings and milk per day, and reduced operating costs of up to 35% compared to the predecessor model, for greater profitability. For existing DairyRobot R9500 or Monobox and DairyProQ systems, appropriate upgrade packages can be purchased to take advantage of the new features.

Innovations in the milking process come with economic and ecological benefits

The proven In-Liner Everything technology performs every step of the milking process – stimulation, cleaning/pre-dipping, pre-milking, milking, and dipping – in just one single procedure. The dipping agent in the In-Liner Everything process is applied to both the teat cup and teat, which means the teat rubber surface is also wetted. As a result, the dipping agent disinfects the teat skin as well as the teat cup. This can eliminate the need for intermediate disinfection with peracetic acid. In the following, the camera and teat cup are now cleaned in parallel. These process improvements not only shorten the box time for more milkings per day but also protect the environment and reduce operating costs.

New separation mode saves time and resources

With the new software package 1.5, GEA brings another important innovation to the DairyRobot R9500: with just one click in the MView control, a convenient separation mode is activated. This allows animals whose milk is being separated to be milked as a group without intermediate rinsing or cleaning after each individual cow. This saves time and significantly reduces water, detergent, and energy consumption. It also means that milking systems are ready for use again more quickly for the following cows.

Optimized service for maximum availability and greater durability of materials

For the new generation of automatic milking systems, GEA has fundamentally revised the regular service intervals and service packages. Longer-lasting materials and extended service intervals result in significantly lower service costs.

In addition, the milking technology modules have been improved. With the milking technology modules, which contain the sensors for milk analysis and metering, GEA’s Automatic Milking Systems follow a unique service concept and are far ahead of other systems. Optimized technical components in these modules now ensure significantly longer service life. Their design has also been redesigned: Improvements in the extended installation space allow better accessibility to the module components and faster replacement of control service parts for continued milking and minimized downtime.

The new generation milking systems also feature an optimized MilkRack: new cup segments increase the service life of the round belts and enable the cleaning position to be adjusted with less maintenance. And thanks to fewer gaps, the MilkRack is now less susceptible to contamination.

Future-proof and flexible

Up to four milking robots can be connected to the supply unit of the DairyRobot R9500. This not only enhances the energy efficiency of the operation but also provides sufficient flexibility for future expansion. Optional empty space modules have been developed accordingly for the DairyProQ milking carousel. These can be used to reduce investment costs and increase throughput capacity at the appropriate time by retrofitting additional milking parlor modules.

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The jury has awarded at the first position, Naïo Technologies and its robot Oz in the Machinery & Engineering category for outstanding achievements within the agricultural sector.

The German Innovation Awards honor products and solutions across sectors, which differ from previous solutions mainly by being user-centered and offering added value. They do so because there are innovations in all sectors that shape the future and improve life. Sometimes you see them at first glance – but often not. The German Innovation Awards aim to change that. They make great achievements visible to a wide audience and ensure successful positioning in the market.

The jury is made up of independent, interdisciplinary experts from industry, science, institutions, and finance. The entries are evaluated based on the criteria: level of innovation, user benefits, and efficiency. The innovation strategy should take into account aspects such as social, ecological, and economical sustainability and the use of energy and resources.

Oz is a versatile robot that assists farmers in daily activities like weeding, transporting, sowing, hoeing, etc.  CE certified, easy to use, 100% electric, and precise, Oz already convinced 150 farmers, market gardeners, and other specialized crops producers around the world. Thanks to its new 2020’s guidance system based on RTK GPS, farmers can conduct very precise operations, like mechanical weeding between 2 to 5 cm from the crop row, avoids the use of herbicide, and reduce soil compaction.

This new RTK version allows them to cover a wide set of operations: tillage, harrowing, hoeing, making furrows, sowing, planting, weeding, ridging, or transporting.

Naïo Technologies’ robots are now operating in many international countries and its position on the German market is growing even faster.

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These implements are those that farmers already use on a daily basis on conventional tractors. In addition, its hybrid engine (diesel and electric) allows for silent work while providing it with a large autonomy. Trektor is CE-certified and guarantees safe operation on fields.

An agricultural assistant in everyday life

This tractor is a real work assistant for farmers. Trektor has been thought and designed by and for farmers in order to cope with the lack of manpower, to reduce the drudgery of work, and to adapt to climatic changes.

This driverless tractor stands out thanks to its design, ease of use, and intuitive control software. Thanks to Trektor, farmers can duplicate or upgrade their working methods with great precision and repeatability. Trektor optimizes the energy required for agricultural work and contributes to the change necessary nowadays. Trektor can easily help you to move towards an eco-efficient production or using less or even zero phytosanitary products.

Trektor proven reliability within an ecosystem

Trektor deploys in all regions of France and abroad through selected and trained distributors for the sale, maintenance, and after-sales service of Trektor’s. These distributors have demonstrations of Trektor’s and spare parts lots to ensure first-level maintenance. Come and discover the many possibilities and services of Trektor. Sitia also works with leading implements makers to combine the intelligence of the implements and Trektor.

In addition to its physical versatility, Trektor has a software versatility that allows it to handle a wide range of applications.

Trektor Lab, come and speed up your innovation

SITIA has also developed Trektor Lab, an open robot to welcome innovations at all stages of their development. Sitia offers a whole range of collaboration services.

Source: Sitia

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“Tomorrow’s agriculture must produce food more sustainably and with less effort. We are convinced that agricultural robotics can make a major contribution to this”,

Gordon Clements, General Manager of Varta Solutions, says.

“As there are a lot of start-ups active in this area that cannot afford to develop their own batteries, our business model is to offer everyone an ASB as a standard solution. This saves companies, among other things, the costs of design and certification. For those who are successful, we will later develop custom lithium-ion battery solutions”,

Clements says.

The lithium-ion pack “Easy Block” from VARTA is available in three versions. The rated power is between 16 and 51.2-ampere hours, the voltage between 12.8 and 38.4 volts, and they have rated energy of 614 to 655-watt hours. More than 2000 charging cycles are possible. The “Easy Blade” lithium-ion pack is available in three versions as well.

The rated output is between 30 and 60-ampere hours, the voltage between 24 and 48 volts, and they all have rated energy of 1,512-watt hours. More than 1000 charging cycles are possible.

Lithium-ion batteries offer several advantages over lead-acid solutions. They have a significantly longer service life and they can provide more energy on the same footprint. In addition, they can be charged faster. Lithium-ion batteries can also provide the power for faster lifting and heavier loads in a smaller form factor. Their use also reduces the head length in truck and pallet loading applications, which makes narrower aisles possible and increases storage space efficiency.

Source: Varta

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Hexagon’s Autonomy and Positioning division has launched its first autonomy positioning and sensing kits for the agriculture market and validated these solutions in its new autonomous research and development tractor.

Through collaboration between its leading brands NovAtel and AutonomouStuff, both parts of Hexagon, their autonomous positioning and sensing kits were developed as part of Hexagon’s Smart Autonomous Mobility solutions portfolio launched at CES in early 2020. With decades of expertise in GNSS positioning, autonomy, and safety-critical applications, NovAtel and AutonomouStuff created these solutions with agriculture machinery OEMs and robotic machinery manufacturers in mind.

As a demonstrator vehicle for Smart Autonomous Mobility, the autonomous tractor features object detection and classification, simultaneous relative localization and mapping, absolute positioning through GNSS technology, and localization sensor fusing. Built to illustrate the viability of new positioning and sensing kits, the tractor incorporates safety-critical learnings with situational and environmental awareness, and manual remote control when needed. This platform validates how these solutions and capabilities accelerate autonomous development.

The positioning and sensing kits are optimized for autonomous agriculture applications, including products like the SMART7 antenna and autonomous robotic capabilities through the NovAtel OEM7 driver powered by the Robot Operating System (ROS).

The kits also feature TerraStar GNSS Correction Services, ALIGN heading and relative positioning firmware, and SPAN GNSS+INS technology. Though designed for agriculture, the kits integrate seamlessly into other off-road autonomy applications.

“These positioning and sensing kits provide developers with technology bringing assured positioning to autonomy in agriculture,”

explained Michael Martinez, agriculture segment manager at Hexagon | NovAtel.

“Robotic machinery manufacturers or those experienced in autonomy may be unfamiliar with the unique challenges facing agriculture applications. Conversely, those experienced with agriculture may not have the expertise to integrate positioning and sensing products within autonomous solutions. We can help in both cases through these positioning and sensor kits, as demonstrated by our autonomous tractor.

“We’re excited to use this tractor as a platform to validate the human identification, obstacle detection, and enhanced environmental awareness that our sensing kits add to our assured positioning solutions in agriculture,”

said John Buszek, VP of products and services at Hexagon | AutonomouStuff.

“The sensing and positioning technologies we’ve integrated on this demonstration platform showcase the Smart Autonomous Mobility portfolio, which enables and accelerates the development of autonomy in agriculture applications from prototyping to production.”

For more than 30 years, NovAtel has delivered industry-leading GNSS positioning solutions as a trusted provider for the world’s top precision agriculture companies. Combined with AutonomouStuff’s decade of expertise in autonomy and sensor fusion, they significantly reduce the barrier of entry into autonomy to accelerate the time to market for autonomous solutions in agriculture, construction, mining, and other off-road applications.

Source: Hexagon

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Already on trial since 1 July 2020 amongst Naïo Technologies’ long-standing partners – the Maison Hennessy and Bernard Magrez company – this new version will enhance user experience. Thanks to the feedback provided by about twenty winegrowers having used Ted for the last 3 years, a set of specifications was defined to help finalize this brand new version, now ready for mass production.

Ted, recently fitted with new functionalities, will considerably improve user experience during the mechanical weeding of vineyards. Ted is now equipped with a tool-holder in the middle, boasting a parallelogram lift. A wide array of machine tools can be hitched onto a multi-purpose pole, and two tools can be combined at the same time. With its robust frame, increased engine power, and speed ranging up to 3 miles/h, its hauling capacity in sloped vineyards was boosted – yet it still weighs much less than standard tractors and high-clearance machines. Ted’s new modular arches mean it can adapt to various vineyard typologies (narrow or high vines, etc.).

“We are delighted to launch this new version of Ted. Naïo Technologies has always moved forwards side by side with its users and makes a point of offering robots that meet practical needs. The improvements made to this new Ted version ensure more reliability, and mean this vineyard robot can be used as a truly autonomous tool.”

Underlines Marie Luce Fournié, COO of Naïo Technologies.

The conception and design of the platform were thought-out whilst maximizing the machine’s safety features. Safety devices were indeed included (slowing down before an obstacle and halting immediately if touched), and a remote operational monitoring system was installed – thus ensuring maximum security.

This new Ted version will be introduced mid-October during a roadshow throughout France, stopping off in several French vineyards and will be available for sale in 2021.

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Aceinna announced the availability of their new Aceinna OpenIMU ROS Driver for developers of robots and robotic applications.

James Fennelly, Product Marketing Manager – Inertial Systems at Aceinna, says:

“This new ROS driver makes it simple to integrate a wide variety of Aceinna IMUs (Inertial Measurement Unit sensors) into almost any robotics applications (warehouse robotics, autonomous vehicles, last-mile deliver robotics, etc.), which uses ROS. When combined with our IMU’s industry-leading reliability and accuracy, as well as very competitive pricing (under $100), developers of robotic solutions finally have an easily integrated, rock-solid solution for their navigation and localization challenges.”

Available on the Sensors Page at ROS.org and GitHub this new driver enables robotic application developers to quickly and easily integrate highly accurate (<1.5°/hr) IMU’s into their navigation guidance systems.

The new ROS Driver currently works with the Aceinna’s versatile OpenIMU family, which includes the OpenIMU300ZI, OpenIMU300RI, and OpenIMU330BI. Each sensor has its own distinct hardware features, allowing the user several options for their unique application. The open-source nature of this architecture makes each device highly configurable as well. Aceinna’s OpenIMU’s have several software applications available, with source code available via Github and the Aceinna Extension on Microsoft Visual Studio Code. Software applications include IMU, VG-AHRS, and INS.

Extremely compact, Aceinna’s IMUs integrate a triple-redundant architecture, that, when combined with their small, low-cost packaging, meets the challenging performance, reliability, and cost requirements of the robotic and autonomous market.

The Robotic Operating System (ROS) is a set of software libraries and tools that help developers create robotics applications. It can be described as a software development kit (SDK). As stated on ROS.org:

“The ROS user community builds on top of a common infrastructure to provide an integration point that offers access to hardware drivers, generic robot capabilities, development tools, useful external libraries, and more.”

This allows users to get their robotics projects up and running a lot faster than starting from scratch.

Combining the architecture of the ROS environment with the versatility of the OpenIMU platform the possibilities are endless and at the users’ fingertips.

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Developed three years ago by Naïo Technologies, a pioneering company in agricultural robotics, Ted is the first autonomous, 100% electric high-clearance tool dedicated to the mechanical weeding of vines. The robot has quickly generated strong interest in the wine-growing sector, which is looking very closely at this solution.

More than twenty Teds are now working in various vineyards. This high-clearance tool, capable of working autonomously among the vines, responds to the sector’s current needs. Ted limits soil compaction and thanks to its mechanical weeding will allow the elimination of allow chemical weedkillers, while still remaining environmentally-friendly thanks to its entirely electric operation.

The robot is therefore continuing to improve in the hands of its wine-growing experts in terms of reliability, autonomy and safety.

“The Bernard Magrez Estate is convinced that robotisation will play a fundamental role in the mechanical maintenance of the land over the next few decades. Electrical power, the absence of greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution are the main focus of our commitment to the environment. In this, we have developed a 4-year partnership with Naïo Technologies to perfect a robot capable of carrying out the majority of the soil maintenance work among the vines”

highlights Arnaud Delaherche, R&D Manager of the Bernard Magrez Estate.

This confidence is reinforced by a common desire to promote an innovative, technological solution already in existence and to prepare it for tomorrow: the Ted robot.

“Within the context of its commitments on sustainable wine growing and to support its partner wine producers, the Hennessy company is testing many different solutions in its vineyards to promote more virtuous wine growing. The R&D partnership project with Naïo Technologies is fully compatible with this approach. The development of the Ted robot is therefore an innovative alternative to the use of weedkillers. Its light weight and adaptability, as well as its electrical operation, are assets in view of the development of sustainable wine growing in the Charente region,”

specifies Mathilde Boisseau, Hennessy Vine and Wine Manager.

From July onwards, they will be the first ones to test the new version of the Ted robot before its official launch planned for September.

Source: Naïo Technologies

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