June 2019 - 17

CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT
those cucumbers that match defined
class types, and hence increasing the
yield per square meter, " Vialle said.
The machine combines a variety of
technologies including two- and threedimensional
vision to see groups of
cucumbers and plan routes to pick and
remove them with minimal damage to
the rest of the plant.
He said the company would like to test
three to five robotic systems in different
greenhouses over a very long period.
" Nothing fundamental, but it would
be naive to paint a picture that it will be
easy from now onwards, " he said. " We
believe we can do it, it is now more an
issue of funding and resources that need
to be allocated. "
Currently, the sensors can identify
about 99% of the cucumbers in a
greenhouse, but even when the robot is
finished, not all of the cucumbers will
likely be accessible for robotic picking.
" We do not believe machine learning
nor computer vision will be the limiting
factor, " Vielle said. " It will be the
maximum speed of movement by robots,
picking and placing with preservation
of the product quality and integrity (not
damaging it externally, internally nor
injecting stress into the plants). "
Like other agriculture technologies,
the finished products could be
marketed to growers as a service
rather than a major equipment
The machines are able to detect the
position of each cucumber.
purchase. The business-speak terms
for such arrangements are operational
expenditure (OPEX), similar to the
software as a service (SAAS) model.
" We will launch different robot
concepts for grading, sorting and
packing and offer these also in
an OPEX model, where growers
who are reluctant to invest in new
technology can invest in a very
limited way and pay the majority as
they use (per packed box or tray), "
Vialle said. " This service will include
fully-managed services where we
guarantee full warranty, on-site
support, preventive and corrective
maintenance and participate in the risk
in a more balanced way. For sure, if the
One of A Kind Technologies has also developed an automated cucumber sorting and
packing line.
productivity is there, we make more
money but can still offer growers a
reasonable payback. Then, if they are
convinced, they can buy the system still
or keep it running as a service and get
all these added-value services included
according to contract. "
The group's automated packing
technology will be on display at
the GreenTech show June 11-13 in
Amsterdam. So far, the group gathered
feedback at Fruit Logistica, a trade
show that drew 78,000 trade visitors
from 135 countries.
Agricultural labor, it seems, is not a
problem only in the U.S.
" Growers all over the world
confirm that we are working in the right
direction driven by demographics (10
billion people, scarcity of resources),
labor (scarce, costly, not consistent),
urbanization combined with an increasing
interest in environmentally-friendly
handling (reducing waste of product and
packages), " Vielle said. " Even relatively
low cost-countries are seeing that the
current model where humans are working
in a sequential process is not scalable.
At the end, the work is also hard and
dirty and people want, or get the chance
to obtain, other work as well as the
economy develops. In Holland, we see
that the Eastern European temp workers
are getting other jobs, and in the U.S., we
hear similar things about the people from
Mexico. " VGN
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VGN | JUNE 2019 | 17
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June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2019
