The market has been eagerly awaiting, but the time has finally come. The first ten harvest robots, diligently developed by Certhon and DENSO, are ready to enter the greenhouse. They will be ready in August. The robot in question is Artemy. Timo Kleijwegt of Certhon provided some additional insights on what the market can expect at the Global Tomato Congress on Tuesday. The robot will be showcased at GreenTech Amsterdam next month.
Collaboration with humans
As mentioned, years of development have gone into the robot. A recent challenge was the advent of LED lighting. The robot handles it well, Timo shared. The robot developers aim for a labor reduction of 40 to 50 percent with the help of the robot. Thus, the task in the greenhouse will be accomplished by both humans and robots. This will happen in 'an incredibly safe manner', as emphasized by Lotte van Rijn earlier this week during the introduction.
Artemy will harvest cherry tomatoes, which is the current focus. Including logistics, the robot needs 26.5 seconds per cluster. Without logistical actions, such as changing paths and also crate logistics, this number drops to 22 seconds per cluster.
A human can harvest 90 kilograms, but humans do not work 24/7. Artemy can, although for the business case calculation, it is assumed to operate 20 hours a day. For this, the robot is equipped with two batteries. According to calculations by the robot builder, the purchase of the robot pays off for the grower within five years. The calculation is based on 1.2 robots per hectare. Currently, the robot is already active at the breeding company Bayer De Ruiter.
Artemy will be showcased at GreenTech Amsterdam in Hall 5, stand 05.250. The fair will take place from June 11 to 13, in RAI Amsterdam.
For more information:
Certhon
[email protected]
www.certhon.com