At AGRITECHNICA 2019, the world's largest agricultural technology fair in Hanover, ATB presents current research on automated weed control in bushberry plantations: the project SunBot. ATB is guest at the BMEL booth in hall 21 booth C28. We are looking forward to your visit!
The production of bushberries such as blueberries or currants is under increasing economic pressure, particularly due to the labour-intensive and therefore costly cultivation measures that are needed. This problem could be solved in the future by an autonomous tractor mower combination powered by photovoltaic energy: The 'SunBot' will autonomously take care of weed control in bushberry plants - even at night. This is to improve labour productivity and cost efficiency in shrubbery cultivation. It can also be expected that frequent mowing will have a positive effect on the yield and fruit quality of the berries.
The SunBot project group is currently developing the autonomous e-tractor from both commercially available and also new components. The tractor is to draw its energy from photovoltaics in a highly autonomous manner via a newly developed charging station. Mowing will be carried out by an innovative, performance-efficient electric cutterbar. Electromechanical auxiliary drives will ensure the compatibility of existing attachments.
Close cooperation of partners from research, industry and practice in the project aims at practicable technical solutions and a quick implementation of the results in practice.
At AGRITECHNICA 2019, ATB will is presenting the current state of research.
Info about the project: Flyer-SunBot (PDF)
Contact ATB: Dr. Jana Käthner