SunBot: Scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy are working on an autonomous tractor for berry plantations – HYDAC Software GmbH gives the robots vision

A driverless robot that runs on solar energy could support people with plant care in the future. The robot, equipped with an innovative energy-efficient cutting unit, is intended to autonomously maintain the undergrowth between the berry bushes. “Plant care work could then be performed autonomously and even during the night. We anticipate that the manual workload for soft fruit production will be reduced significantly and that the reduction in process costs will generate greater value creation and thus make the enterprises more competitive,” explained Prof. Cornelia Weltzien, coordinator of the SunBot project and head of the Engineering for Crop Production department at the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy. The specially developed smart system that can reliably detect persons and animals in the plantation in real time is being developed by HYDAC Software GmbH.