"The aim of robotics coupled with AI is not to replace people, but to help them," says Nicolas Salmon, CEO and co-founder of Aisprid. Today, at the Sival trade show in France, the company launched their robot Leafy, an autonomous deleafer for greenhouse grown tomato plants. The robot is currently already in operation in tomato greenhouses, as the growers are true development partners for the company, says Nicolas. "A 3-year long R&D and field testing program can vouch for the robot's operational condition."
It's a novelty in horti robots: deleafing tomato plants done by a robot. Aisprids Leafy is currently taking on the task in some of Brittanies (France) greenhouses. "Around 10 robots have been deployed there last year", Nicolas shares. "We are starting the commercial phase this year, with more robots being deployed, on a Robot as a service basis with upfront payment."
It has not been an easy task to get here. "A lot of things need to go right to cut a single leaf, both from the software and hardware side. This is one of the biggest challenges in agriculture and is also true for deleafing and harvesting. Then, you need to repeat this a million times efficiently and without hardware failure", Nicolas summarizes the journey.
Leafy is equipped with several cameras. A central camera scans tomato plants, leaves & tomatoes in order to identify points of cuts for leaves as well as potential obstacles for robot trajectory generation. Then, the robotic arm moves towards the point of cut while using another camera at the end of the robotic arm to adjust its trajectory in the middle of the move.
But there's more. The robot is equipped with AI, and as Nicolas says, it is of vital importance to learn from the experience of interacting with the living world. "Plants are not like factory-made products. They are different from one row to the next and from one grower to the next. Plants change throughout the season. The great diversity and special cases we deal with are what make our work so complex. Our robot is designed to operate in a plant-based and living environment: It can analyze this environment, understand it, and act upon it accordingly."
So, let's talk numbers. Aisprid aims to reach one hectare per robot, taking into account 20-24 hours per day, 7 days per week. "We're not there yet - we're about halfway," Nicolas says, adding it is important to understand the robot is evolutive. "Performance increases every month, with both software, AI, and hardware upgrades."
"Robotzing greenhouse tasks is the future for agriculture and horticulture," says Marine Lechvien, one of the Brittany-based growers working with Leafy. "The more experience the robot gets, the better it performs. Substantial improvements are already tangible: cutting is neater, and the Aisprid robot is making good progress. It will continue to improve in terms of leaf-cutting precision and numbers."
Currently, the robot operates only on tomatoes, with a specific focus on cluster tomatoes. "Robot performance is affected by varieties, but we are working on covering as much as possible, even potentially other crops like cucumbers. Our goal is to provide a sustainable answer to labor shortages while improving the working conditions of those who handle the plants."
The Aisprid was awarded a gold medal at the Sival tradeshow and will be shown there during the show, in booth 302 - Hall Novaxia Haut. Later on, it will also be present at the World FIRA startup pitch session and at Greentech Amsterdam.
For more information:
Aisprid
6 Allée Métis
35400 Saint-Malo - France
Tel.: (+33) 6 40 98 39 28
[email protected]
www.aisprid.com