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Unlocking the Power of Robotics in Agri-Food Thank you for attending!

About the event  

An incredible gathering was concluded last week in Athens! agROBOfood held a successful network event on the 11th and 12th of May, thanks to each and every participant!   

 

Knowledge sharing, networking and dynamic discussions were the key facets of this year's event. From the insightful keynote speeches to the dynamic panel discussions, participants not only stayed tuned, but also came forward with their questions, making along with the speakers all the difference! 

The event started with a welcome from the coordinator of agROBOfood project Dr. Kees Lokhorst, who explained what the ecosystem is and how it came together in the last few years.    

 

Bringing forward the ecosystem  

The agROBOfood community was the topic underlying all sessions throughout the two days. A partnership of few in the beginning that steadily grew to count more than two hundred members, as presented in “agROBOfood in a nutshell” by Jens Martinus Pedersen, Coordinator of Innovation Experiments, agROBOfood.  

From established companies, SMEs and start-ups to policy makers and end users, different stakeholders of the ecosystem were there to share their knowledge and experience.  

Each provided useful insights showcasing on one hand the challenges that a niche market like that of agri-food robotics has to face and on the other how a strong community, led and supported by experts, can address those challenges. 


Success stories: Innovating into the robotic agri-food domain 

Companies, SMEs and start-ups shared their success and how they reached the point they are in today; what were (and still are) their struggles; the innovation their technology can bring into the sector and how they can revolutionize it.  


Presentations by  

Eva Schröer-Merker, Krone 

Thilo Steckel, Claas 

Dr. Sebastian Pütz, Nature Robots GmbH 

Nikos Frangakis, iKnowHow SA 

Nikos Mylonas, CEO & Co-Founder, EDEN 

 

Is robotics the right tool? Thoughts from farmers of the Future 

Agri-cooperatives and farmers representatives of today and of the “future” discussed their views on the impact robotics can have on the work done in the field. They also focused on how adoption could be boosted in the near future using tools like training to help end users.  


Presentations by 

Patrick Pagani, Copa Cogeca  

Markos Legas, Pegasus Agrifood Cooperation  

Doris Letina, CEJA 

 

Providing the EU framework: Policy to support agriculture robotics guidelines & funding opportunities 

Another important piece that was added during the two-day discussions was that of the policy framework and the way it affects the future of robotics, along with the financial (and other) tools that the EU can provide to further boost the evolvement of the domain.  


Presentations by 

Ivan Stefanic, European Innovation Council  

Peter Broertjes, DG Grow    

 

Mapping innovations across the EU 

AgROBOfood, as a part of a whole, brought to the forefront innovations that are being cultivated in other projects with collaborations across the EU including SoftGrip, CoROSect, FlexiRobots, SmartDroplets and Rob4Crops that co-organized this session.  


Presentations by 

Dr. Frits van Evert, Co-ordinator of Robs4Crops   

Dr. Spyros Fountas, Coordinator of Smart Droplets  

Konstantinos Stavridis, Work package leader in CoRoSect   

Konstantinos Vasios, Innovation Lead in SoftGrip  

Francisco Javier Nieto de Santos, Coordinator of FlexiGroBots  

 

Creating the legacy  

This year's event signaled the passing of agROBOfood to a new era. Bringing together Digital Innovation Hubs, SMEs, Policy makers and farmers to work towards a shared vision was just the steppingstone. agROBOfood has created a vibrant community that sets the foundation for the agri-food robotics field.   

 

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