automation solutions
Automate the sticking of cuttings
AutoStix is a revolutionary system designed by Viscon to automate the sticking of cuttings using a patented transplanter and innovative biodegradable strips.
AutoStix is an open source system, so it can be used by anyone in the industry. The use of a strip/carrier makes it extremely easy to automate. Ninety percent of vegetative cuttings can now be automatically transplanted. The system provides better quality control of cuttings at the nursery (a visual check is now possible) and unparalleled uniformity in cultivation at the rooting station.
Better rooting
Another advantage is better rooting due to the good, solid soil-root contact designed into the strip. Shorter cultivation cycles are guaranteed as the process is controlled. The strip (cartridge) is biodegradable – a world first in horticulture. There are numerous spin-off innovations based on the this strip (the biodegradable cartridge). The strip is a carrier designed to efficiently handle the plants in many different ways.
www.visser.eu
Stand number: 11.410
Smart automatic guided vehicle in ultra-low body
In the ornamental industry, mixing and shipping goods on CC trolleys is highly labour-intensive. Growers dislike these trolleys because of their inferior manoeuvrability and limited automation options.
Eurotec has therefore launched Lowpad, an automation system for CC trolleys. It is an AGV (automatic guided vehicle) which fits underneath a CC trolley, lifts it up and travels autonomously with the CC trolley on its “shoulders”. Its wheels are separately driven and steered using Navigator, the on-board control and safety system. No floor infrastructure is required: all you need is a flat floor. It finds its way using an indoor GPS system combined with on-board sensors.
parent software
Lowpads are controlled by Supervisor (parent software) in an integrated system which provides traffic management, creates task and priority management, prevents collisions and plans the most efficient routes. Organizer (WCS) software can be supplied and connected to your current WMS/ERP system.
www.eurotec.nu
Stand number: 11.408
Plant small plants with robot arms
The ISO Robot Plug Planting Machine is a machine with robot arms that can plant small plants in the ground from a plug tray. This method of planting plugs in the ground with robot arms is completely unique anywhere in the world.
The current machine, which is specially designed for Lisianthus plants, can handle 6,000 plants per robot arm, and the maximum capacity can be increased to 18,000 plants per hour with a third arm. It can all be operated by one person. Up to now, the plants have been planted out by hand. With the humidity and warmth in the greenhouse needed to grow Lisianthus, this is a very tough, labour-intensive job. The machine is designed to enable the operator to control the plants as they are being planted.
www.iso-group.nl
Stand number: 11.307
Related
GreenTech Innovation Award 2016 nominees announced
A shortlist of nominees, all but two of them Dutch, has been announced for the GreenTech Innovation Award 2016. An international jury has selected a shortlist of 15 nominees from 73 entries in three categories: Production, Equipment and Automation Solutions. One of these three winners will be chosen as the overall winner on June 14, during the opening event of GreenTech Amsterdam.
“As jury, we are very pleased with both number and quality of the applications for the GreenTech Innovation Award 2016. It shows the high level of innovation in the greenhouse horticulture sector”, said jury chairman Aalt Dijkhuizen, former president of Wageningen UR and appointed by the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs as figurehead of the Topsector Agri & Food in the Netherlands.
Shortlisted in the Production category are:
- RootmaXX by Saint-Gobain Cultilene - a new stone wool cube which claims to give a 5-25 per cent higher root mass thanks to a newly patented fibre.
- ISO Cutting and Planting robot 1800 by ISO Group - which automatically analyses the geometry of a stem, cut the stem to the right length and plants it in a pot.
- ISO Plantsampler by ISO Group - which automates the gathering of DNA material from the leaves of trial seedlings.
- GrowCoon by Maan BioBased Products - a biodegradable plug casing which help keeps the root ball together.
- Biospreader by Royal Brinkman - which provides a uniform distribution of predatory mites in the crop.
Shortlisted in the Equipment category are:
- 2SaveEnergy covering by 2SaveEnergy - a twin-skinned glasshouse covering claimed to combine high insulation and light transmission with an affordable.
- Triton Bioreactor by Van der Ende Groep - a biological treatment which yields clean irrigation water rich in oxygen and microbial biodiversity.
- AntiReflect by Mardenkro - a glass treatment which can be applied to existing greenhouses.
- NUF water recycling by NUFiltration (Israel) - which enables purification of irrigation water without use of chemicals, thermal or biological treatments.
- ValkScreenVision by Van der Valk Horti Systems - a quick, clean and safe system for inserting glasshous screens.
- Priva Deleafing Robot by Priva - a robot which removes leaves from tomato plants completely independently and in an economically profitable manner.
Shortlisted in the Automation Solutions category:
(with one remaining undisclosed)
- Paskal Growth Analyser by Paskal Technologies (Israel) - a wireless weighing system to continuously monitor plant growth in the glasshouse.
- C.H.I.M.P (Crop Health & Information Monitoring Platform) by Phenokey - which measures control and plant health parameters for remote monitroing and decision support.
- HortiMaX-Go! by Ridder Hortimax Group - a user-friendly and affordable horticultural computer for controlling both greenhouse climate and irrigation.
All nominated products will be on display at GreenTech's InnovationLAB.
Source: GreenTech. Photo: Mario Bentvelsen.
