Subsurface Precision detection of Asparagus with Robot Technology for Selective harvesting

Project Information

SPARTerS

Grant agreement ID: 811469

DOI

10.3030/811469

Project closed

EC signature date 24 April 2018

Start date 2 July 2018

End date 1 July 2020

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 3 089 426,25

EU contribution

€ 1 498 042,00

Coordinated by

CERESCON BV
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SPARTerS (Subsurface Precision detection of Asparagus with Robot Technology for Selective harvesting)

Reporting period: 2019-07-02 to 2020-07-01

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

1.1 What is the problem/ issue to be addressed
European asparagus farmers face the problem of increasing labor cost and decreasing availability of labor for the selective harvesting of white asparagus. Besides the labor availability, manual harvesting causes subsurface damage which causes an estimated 30% yield losses.

Cerescon has developed the first selective harvesting robot for white asparagus.
The patented technology detects asparagus subsurface resulting in 50% lower harvesting costs and better quality asparagus as violet coloring decreases significantly.
The patented cutting robot picks asparagus from the top of the bed resulting in less subsurface losses. The sand bed recovery homogenizes the bed which also results in better quality asparagus.

1.2 Importance for society
The social impact is large: minimum wages rise yearly and the current EU asparagus farmers are highly depended on temporally employees from (mostly) eastern European countries that are yearly less available. The increasing labor problem causes unwanted law violations.
If harvesting of white asparagus is not mechanized, the complete asparagus sector disappears forever from Europe.

1.3 Overall objectives
The targets for project SPARTerS (811469) are
• to do an engineering project to decrease the cost of goods for an healthy growth margin and increase producibility and serviceability. The product at the start of SPARTerS was not yet ready for 0-series production.
• to develop the software for the operating system and prepare for big data usage for yield improvement.
• to do reliability, performance and quality testing in production situations. At the same time Cerescon demonstrated the product on various locations thus increasing the desire for the machine and lowering the risk for farmers to invest in it.
• to prepare and start the market introduction in various European countries

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

2.1 Summary work performed
The 2 existing 1-row beta-machines that have been tested in season 2018 were analyzed and adapted specifications were created. Two 2-row versions were developed and build for performance, quality and reliability testing at 2 locations: an asparagus farmer in Germany and in the Netherlands.
Part of the testing was testing and debugging the software improvements based on the 2018 version.
The test-locations were also used to give demonstrations to various farmers from Germany, The Netherlands, France, Austria and Italy but also to consultants, breeders and journalists.

2.2 Results from season 2019 (period 1-7-2018 until 30-6-2019)
Application adaptations (like size headland, sand bed preparation etc.) are necessary and possible for good quality selective harvesting.
The machine uptime was above specs. Asparagus quality and quantity (kg/h) was below target.
Interest of farmers to test a machine at their own location is high. They feel the investment for a 2- or 3-row version as very high and risky: large investment and a new (unknown) company.
Cerescon decided to postpone sales with one year, also because the cost of goods were still too high to guarantee the requested gross margin in future.
Further, Cerescon started an internal reorientation to reconsider the product introduction strategy.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

3.1 Expected results from season 2020 (period 1-7-2019 until 30-6-2020)
We expect to have a variant Sparter ready for 0-series production for an interesting sales introduction price.
Cerescon will have set up a dealership and service providing contract with a reputable partner in Germany. This contract is the model for similar contracts with other partners in Germany, France, Italy etc.

3.2 Socio-economic impact
The massive labor migrants in the asparagus season will decrease and the harvesting costs for the farmer becomes less. Besides that, the quality and quantity of the harvested asparagus will increase thus increasing the farmers profit. This way the white asparagus business in Europe (approximately € 800M per year) will remain.

3.3 Societal implications
Cerescon considers the selective harvesting robot for white asparagus as the starting point for more selective harvesting solutions.
The modular principle of detection, picking and transportation can be adapted to other crops.
Automated selective harvesting will become the standard for more crops.

The 2-row version of Sparter harvesting in an asparagus field

Detail of the cutting robot of Sparter. Right cutting knife contains an asparagus ready for release