agROBOfood is dedicated to accelerate the digital transformation of the European agri-food sector through the adoption of robotic technologies. It will consolidate, extend and strengthen the current ecosystem by establishing a sustainable network of DIHs. This will boost the uptake of robotic solutions by the agri-food sector: a huge challenge requiring an inclusive approach involving all relevant European players. The agROBOfood consortium has 39 partners, led by Wageningen University & Research and other core partners of previous key projects such as IoF2020, ROBOTT-NET, PicknPack and I4MS, to leverage the ecosystem that was established in those projects. The heart of the project is formed by Innovation Experiments (IEs), organized and monitored by the DIHs. In each of the 7 Regional Clusters, an initial IE will demonstrate the robotics innovations in agri-food in a manner that ensures replicability across Europe, wide adoption and sustainability of the DIHs network. agROBOfood will work in lockstep with the European robotics community, ensuring synergetic effects with initiatives such as EU-Robotics. This will maximize the return of European, including private capital, investments in the digital transformation of agri-food. A key instrument to achieve this objective is the Industrial Advisory Board. They will provide strategic guidance and also define priorities for the selection of solutions to be funded. Open Calls of 8MEUR will attract additional Innovation Experiments (12) and Industrial Challenges (8). These will expand the network and ensure that vast technological developments and emerging challenges of the agri-food sector are incorporated in the service portfolio of DIHs. Through its inclusive structure and ambitious targets, agROBOfood aims to bring the entire European ecosystem together; connecting the dots in a way that ensures effective adoption of robotics technologies in the European agri-food sector.

AUTOFARM brings a disruptive and novel automated way of operating greenhouses to the market, applying a revolutionary new growing system that unlocks plant mobility for optimal use of robotisation and artificial intelligence. World-wide the high-tech indoor farm sector is expanding from 60k hectares to 80k in 2025. This growth is triggered by the societal need for climate resilient food production, the fast growing market demand for fresh food and the economic need for greater resource use efficiency. To enable this growth, many high-tech indoor farming processes have been standardised and optimised, but the automation of labour availability and crop management is lagging behind. SAIA introduces through AUTOFARM a paradigm shift towards a food factory of the future where 50% of the labour is automated and crop management is supported by data mining and artificial intelligence. SAIA’s novel plant system enables year-round steady production which allows for 30% more yield.