3 new vineyard robots on display at the Fira exhibition

he small world of agricultural robotics convened at World Fira 2023, south of Toulouse, at the beginning of February. Fourteen robots designed for vineyards, market gardening and arboriculture made their debut appearance. Among them were three new releases.

The Scorpion from the Spanish partnership between Inesc Tec and Teyme specialises in spraying. The electric 4-wheel drive prototype robot uses the recovery spraying technique. The aim is to reduce product usage and drift. With 6 to 7 hours of autonomy, the 1.2 m wide robot can move forward at up to 7 km/h. Two columns with 4 nozzles each spray one row per pass with a mounted spray.

Exxact Robotics presented the Traxx Concept H2 for the first time. Equipped with a hydrogen tank that supplies it with electricity, the robot straddles the same narrow vineyard trellises as its larger diesel brothers, with 1.5m clearance and 1.2m of track, but weighs more at nearly 2 tonnes. Its autonomy is 8 to 10 hours and it can be recharged in just 10 minutes! This first prototype will be tested for 3 months of tillage over the coming weeks.

The Land-A2 from Exobotic Technologies is mainly used for monitoring and measuring the canopy. This compact, electric robot is at least 1 m wide and can be configured as required in terms of dimensions, sensors and soon tools. It has 4 driving and steering wheels to cover both steep and wet terrain. It has a suspension system to overcome bumps and holes up to 40 cm deep. It can cope with inclines of up to 30%. Its battery can be changed and connected as plug & play.