5. International VDI Conference - Automation and Robotics in Agriculture

Ole Green, Founder, Agrointelli, Denmark

Make the most of this networking opportunity by participating in these quick and effective 1-to-1 interactions

• Solution landscape – easy or complex?
• Which pain points are we trying to solve and are they the right ones?
• Which hurdles do we need to overcome from a farmer‘s point of view? 
  Andreas Kaczmarczyk, VP Marketing, Kubota Holdings Europe BV, Netherlands

• Autonomy for Farming: How autonomy leverages new use cases and new way of farming
• Autonomy as Support for Sustainability: How autonomy enables tools to be used more sustainably
• Autonomy as Support for Profitability: How autonomy of agricultural machinery brings profitability at different timescales 
  Christophe Aubé, CEO, AgreenCulture & President, Robagri, France

• Advances in agricultural technology are outpacing the practical application of plant production expertise
• The Big Data Disappointment: Current methods fail to produce extensive, high-quality, and standardized datasets across farms
• Farmers are not data scientists – they need insights that provide causality, not just correlation 
  Jacob von der Decken, CCO, Tunen Limited, United Kingdom

• Smart Implements: Conventional implements turn into smart implements to ensure process reliability with automated systems
• Error Detection: Various types of sensors with customized thresholds detect errors and malfunctions to remotely notify or warn supervisors
• Easy Integration: Standard protocols make retrofitting simple and compatible
• Real-World Testing: Test results and feedback on performance in combination with highly automated and autonomous vehicles 
  Michael Wiebeler, Field Application Engineer, ANEDO GmbH, Germany and Philipp Kamps, Product Management, AgXeed BV, Netherlands

• Automation Benefits in Agriculture: Boosts efficiency, productivity, and safety
• Standards Integration: ISO 18497 (off-road) and SAE J3016 (on-road)
• Agri-ODD: Standardizes complex agricultural operations and addresses environmental variability 
  Prof. Dr. Julius Schöning, Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, Germany

• The regulatory framework relevant to safety, functional safety, and cybersecurity for autonomous agricultural vehicles
• Insights, solutions, and compliance efforts for several use cases
• Impact on both technical solutions and business models 
  Tommy Ertbølle Madsen, CEO and Co-Founder, AgriRobot, Denmark

• Navigation and route planning with multi fields including public road
• A Danish test setup performed with the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority
• Gains and benefits for farmers and growers 
  Gareth Edwards, Digital Infrastructure Product Manager, Agrointelli, Denmark

At the end of the first conference day we kindly invite you to use the relaxed and informal atmosphere for in-depth conversations with other participants and speakers.

During the interactive Round Table Session, we invite you to engage directly with other experts. These consist of interactively moderated conversations on various topics. Discuss and identify challenges within the industry as well as problems, needs, and solutions. 

Here are the first announced topics: 
#1: Building a Sustainable Business Model for Automated Solutions in Agriculture | Daria Batukhtina, Sr. Manager Strategic Business Development, Innovation Center Europe, Kubota Holdings Europe BV, Netherlands 
#2: Partnering is Needed – How Can We Establish Equal Cooperation Between Large and Small Businesses? | Ole Green, Founder, Agrointelli, Denmark 
#3: From Prototype to Production: The Biggest Challenges Facing Developers of Agricultural Robotics | James Szabo, Agriculture Autonomy Portfolio Manager, Hexagon, United Kingdom

• Evolution “4D Imaging Radar”, ready for agriculture?
• Reality check of use-cases: expectations vs. real-world experiences
• Say goodbye to GNSS drift or signal loss – radar-based SLAM 
  Dipl.-Ing. Camille Marbach, Product Management Perception Off-Highway, Bosch Engineering GmbH, Germany

• Geometrical Interpretable Filtering: Fuses sensor data over time for an interpretable model, improving object detection, tracking, and safety
• Scalability Across Domains: Reduces costs and effort by enabling flexible, cross-domain deployment
• Validation and Certification: Transparent design simplifies compliance with regulations and safety regulations
• Real-World Demonstrations: Showcasing applications from trucking to agriculture for robust object detection 
  Tim Stahl, Co-Founder, driveblocks GmbH, Germany

• Unstructured reality – why livestock environments present unique automation challenges
• Improving worker conditions and farm productivity – an autonomous robot for cleaning of layer houses
• Dealing with uncertainty – computer vision in farm environments
  Dr. Christian Lamping, Product Development, Big Dutchman International GmbH, Germany

• The problem of day-old male chick culling – hyperspectral imaging for in ovo sex determination
• Chemical free and improved hatching rates – accelerated electrons for hatching egg sanitization
• Save resources and improve vaccination quality – a multi-axis robot for poultry vaccination 
  Jörg Hurlin, CEO and Founder, Agri Advanced Technologies GmbH, Germany

• Practical insights of developing automated Ag-tec for robots
• Sustainable automation – what drives us
• The value of data and AI 
  Gregor Witzmann MSc., MBA, CEO, Farm-ING Smart Farm Equipment GesmbH, Austria

• Highlights & trends over the past 5 years
• Added value by field examples: Less robotics, more automation?
• Tech development vs. business process vs. human change vs. environment 
  Corné Rispens, MSc. BEng., Entrepreneur – Adoption of Agriculture Robots, DUCKSIZE, Netherlands

Ole Green, Founder, Agrointelli, Denmark