Artificial Intelligence and robotics to boost the agri-food sector

By The AIR Institute

Last week, the National Forum on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in the agri-food sector was held, organised by the Institute for Business Competitiveness (ICE) and the Junta de Castilla y León, with the collaboration of the Itagra Technology Centre at the "Viñalta" Comprehensive Vocational Training Centre, located in Palencia.

During the forum, the innovative applications of robotics and artificial intelligence in critical sectors at national level, such as the agri-food and industrial sectors, were highlighted. Attendees enjoyed presentations, real case studies and practical experiences that demonstrated the direct impact of robotics and artificial intelligence in agriculture and the food industry.

The forum was opened by José Manuel Turzo Ruiz (Director of the Agricultural Training Centre of Cifp Viñalta Palencia), Augusto Cobos Pérez (Director General of ICE. Institute for Business Competitiveness of Castilla y León) and Asier Saiz Rojo (Director of itagra.ct).

Among other companies and institutions, Agerpix, Matarromera Group, Naïo Technologies, AG-Group, Meropy, ANSEMAT, CSIC, Vitartis and NODDO, a network in which AIR Institute participates, have presented their demos in diverse fields, including:

  • Onfruit 360 by Agerpix: automatic fruit counting system on the tree, with which farmers can check the amount of fruit on their plantations with an accuracy of 90-95%.
  • Naïo - AGGROUP will be able to see how OZ works, the Naïo robot that allows weeding, furrowing and sowing, among other functions. It works completely autonomously thanks to its RTK GPS guidance system, reduces production losses and helps to secure the harvest.
  • Meropy's SentiV is an autonomous robot that monitors and inspects crops by rolling across fields. It is designed to detect crop problems, weeds, pests or diseases as it autonomously travels across fields on open-spoke wheels without tyres.

  

This has been excellent initiative to showcase innovative agro-tech projects and their contribution to the development of agriculture.