Robot crowd-puller at the DLG Field Days 2022 at the Kirschgartshausen trial farm in Mannheim. (Image source: DLG)

The FarmRobotix platform celebrates premiere at the DLG Feldtage 2024, which will take place from 11-13 June at the estate Brockhof in Germany

Aimed at farmers, manufacturers, start-ups and technology providers, FarmRobotix offers an international platform farmers and experts seeking compact and comprehensive information on the latest developments in robotics, AI, automation and digital solutions in crop production. Moreover, besides the option to explore innovative technologies, the platform also offers networking and knowledge sharing opportunities to representatives from science and research as well as development engineers, investors and venture capitalists. 

With a focus on farming requirements for digital technologies, FarmRobotix plays a role in solving the challenges that lie in the application of digital and autonomous technologies in crop farming. For instance, although a plethora of digital solutions are available to farmers for performing crop cultivation tasks, each digital solution provider supplies a customised software system to use the digital tools and data. Therefore, their application requires prior knowledge on part of the user. 

This is where the FarmRobotix system comes into picture. Florian Schiller, an expert in digitalisation at the International DLG Crop Production Centre (IPZ) in Bernburg, Saxony-Anhalt, explained that the FarmRobotix platform could play a role in providing impetus in the dialogue between farmers, manufacturers and science in order to make the digital applications of different manufacturers compatible with each other. 

Schiller further explained the complexity faced by robots in crop cultivation, since the difficulty level of the tasks to be performed by agricultural robots was comparatively greater than the tasks involved in industrial production. 

DLG’s IPZ farm is part of several research projects on digitalisation and AI in crop production, including the NaLamKI project funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs. NaLamKI which stands for ‘Sustainable Agriculture with AI,’ is aimed at developing AI services for agriculture, capable of analysing data from conventional and autonomous agricultural machinery, satellites and drones, combining them in a software service platform and make the results accessible through open interfaces. 

As an associated partner in the project, the IPZ is working on the early detection of fungal diseases in wheat using AI. The aim of AI-supported detection of fungal diseases, which is being researched in the NaLamKI project, is to use multi- and hyperspectral image analysis to establish when a fungal infection has taken place in a crop. Apart from fungal pathogens however, the spectral properties of the leaf surface are influenced by a variety of external factors such as drought or plant nutrition. 

"It is therefore always crucial for AI systems that the data delivers accurate information about the properties to be recognised,” said Schiller. “Otherwise, AI models do not reflect what they are supposed to provide information about.”

For more information, visit: https://dlg-feldtage.de/en/

In addition to its scientific validation, BeCrop Technology stands out for its accessibility via API connections. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Global agtech company, Biome Makers recently announced its contribution to the publication of two scientific studies validating the efficacy and reliability of the company’s revolutionary technology

These landmark papers demonstrate a significant leap forward in the field of soil health intelligence and predicting soil functionality. The first study titled 'Physicochemical properties and microbiome of vineyard soils from DOP Ribeiro (NW Spain) are influenced by agricultural management,' evaluated the impact of conventional and sustainable management systems of vineyards from DOP Ribeiro on the soil’s condition. The second study, titled 'Enrichment of putative plant growth promoting microorganisms in biodynamic compared to organic agriculture soils,' investigates regenerative versus organic agricultural soils in three locations in Germany and 21 locations in France.

Both these studies highlight the effectiveness of Biome Makers’ technology, BeCrop, and its proprietary indexes in microbial metabolism, soil bio-sustainability, while also detecting stress, nutrient deficiencies, and correlating with different management practices. The significance of these findings extends beyond Biome Makers’ own technology, by also highlighting the superiority of the soil database and intelligence over others in the market.

In addition to its scientific validation, BeCrop Technology stands out for its accessibility via API connections. This means that BeCrop's powerful soil intelligence solutions can seamlessly integrate into existing agricultural systems, enabling farmers and agricultural professionals to harness the benefits of advanced soil health assessment without disrupting their workflow.

"These papers are a testament to our commitment to transparency and scientific excellence," said Biome Makers’ Chief Science Officer and co-founder, Dr Alberto Acedo. "By opening our technology for peer review and validation, we aim to foster trust and collaboration while pushing the boundaries of soil health data and innovative technology."

For more information, visit: https://biomemakers.com/

The Valencia centre has an ample area for demonstrations with a variety of machines. (Image source: TOMRA Food))

TOMRA Food has inaugurated a new centre dedicated to fresh fruit and processed food projects in Valencia, which will also act as the main HUB for Southern Europe and North Africa, and serve as a training, service and spare parts centre, extending TOMRA Food’s presence in the EMEA market

The company sees its relationship with its customers as a collaborative process where both look for the best solution for each project and work together on the design of new solutions. The Spanish fruit and vegetable and nut sector – which is key for the company – is highly concentrated in the eastern Levante region and surrounding area. That is why the new centre in Valencia, which is now fully operational, is an important step in strengthening this personal approach and fostering a close relationship and communication with the producers.

TOMRA Food’s expert team will manage the company’s European projects from their base in the Valencia centre. The site will be the hub for demonstrations of large and small fruit applications. It will also conduct occasional demonstrations for processed food, although Belgium will continue to be the centre of reference for these products. It will also deliver training for company staff and TOMRA Food customer operators. 

To reduce delivery times, the centre stores spare parts, while also serving as an after-sales service hub in the EMEA region. A local technical team of 15 people, headed by team leader Jorge García Cascales, provides excellent support to the almost 400 machines in fresh and processed food installations in Spain and Portugal, and also serves other countries in the region. 

The Valencia centre has an ample area for demonstrations with a variety of machines including the Demo SLS (Single Lane Sorter) featuring Spectrim C2IR and Inspectra 2 for citrus and large fruit applications (apples, stone fruits, tomatoes, kiwi, avocados, etc). Also, at the centre is a KATO + LUCAi 12-line sorter for blueberries, which uses Deep Learning technology with pre-trained models that teach computers how to process data and detect complex patterns in photos. A TOMRA 3A optical sorter for unwashed potatoes featuring the latest mechanical and vision advances is also available for demonstrations.

"These are sorters built on high-performance hardware with improved lighting and image quality, providing complete visibility of every piece of fruit, and infrared channels to detect complex defects such as radial cracks, bruises, rotten fruit, scars, and punctures," explained TOMRA Food's regional sales manager for Southern Europe, Alejandro Palacios. "We will also have a circulation of fresh food machines according to seasonal fruit and processed food sorters to support the various campaigns."

TOMRA’s technologies are in constant evolution, with innovations such as the 5.0 more intuitive and predictive software, or the Inspectra2 spectrometry system that reveals the internal condition of the fruit, coming on stream. . Moreover, the company will soon unveil the recently launched Spectrim X platform to the European markets, which reduces sorting errors and increases the yield of each batch of fruit.

For more information, visit: www.tomra.com 

By installing wear-resistant coatings, processing equipment will withstand abrasion from the coarse sugar cane. (Image source: Castolin Eutectic)

Castolin Eutectic’s technical lead, Raul Amor explains how excessive wear can be avoided to ensure that critical sugar processing machines will remain in service throughout the harvest

Sugar cane processors face the challenge that cane is extremely tough and can damage processing equipment. Components in harvesters, feed systems, knives and hammers in defibering units and crushers can all wear out quickly and even break down. But there is a solution: wearfacing coatings protect equipment from the damage caused by sugar cane. The benefits are that equipment will extract sugar more efficiently, last longer and need fewer repairs.

Sugar is big business and it is growing bigger. According to Fortune Business Insights, the worldwide sugar market is expected to grow to US$46.56bn by 2029, with operators in Asia Pacific having the biggest share of the market. Typically, mills process between 10,000 to 45,000 tons of sugar cane per day. They need heavy industrial machinery – and a lot of it – to do this. However, excess wear and breakages can stop production. This can be expensive due to repair costs, downtime and lower yields. 

Overcoming abrasion at every processing step

Abrasion from sugar cane, stones and earth can cause excess wear on washing, chopping, defibering and crushing systems. Wearfacing coatings can overcome this to enable operators to extract more sugar cane with less downtime. One particularly vulnerable area is rollers in cane crushers, which experience wear and breakages on their teeth. Being made of cast iron, the rolls need particular care. To prevent cracks forming, specialist welding electrodes for cast iron should be used.

It is important for the electrode material to have high hardness and corrosion resistance, which will provide additional wear resistance and ensure a long service life for the rollers. For rollers that experience a lot of damage from rocks and soil, some wearfacing materials offer better resistance to impact.

Wearfacing coatings can build the teeth sides and tips to their original shape so that the crusher will work more efficiently for higher yield. Several passes can be applied to rebuild the teeth with a serrated teardrop profile. This can even be done with an automated welding system to ensure uniform size and spacing between teardrops. It is also possible to apply a top layer of dots onto the sides of teeth while a roller is turning. This creates a rough surface that maximises juice extraction.

Case study: cost savings in action

Burning bagasse can also cause excess wear on fans, tubes and ducts. At one sugar cane mill, a boiler induced draft fan was suffering severe erosion caused by unburned bagasse and soil. These had begun to wear down important sections of the blades until, gradually, the entire rotor wore down. For an idea of the potential impact on production, the plant had four boilers, and each one with a fan.

In a previous attempt to repair the fan, a wearfacing had been applied by electrode welding in one area of the blade where wear had begun to affect the fan. However, this did not last. As an alternative, a Castolin Eutectic engineer applied an arc spray coating based on a 10 mil Arc 500 wire and 20 mil Arc 595 wire. This doubled the rotor lifespan without increasing the weight of the rotor or affecting its balance. 

The result: a more profitable production line

By installing wear-resistant coatings, processing equipment will withstand abrasion from the coarse sugar cane. By avoiding such wear and tear, equipment can last a whole milling season without downtime for repairs. Uninterrupted, each milling season will be more productive, and ultimately more profitable.

To find out more about wear resistant coatings, visit: https://www.castolin.com/sugar