The success of the Ecorobotix ARA spot sprayer is remarkable. Rarely has a newcomer established itself so quickly with a new machine in the Dutch market. - Photos: Jan Willem Schouten
A machine manufacturer outside the established order, growing rapidly to a multimillion-dollar turnover with a new machine is extremely rare. Ecorobotix achieves this with its ARA spot sprayer based on AI weed recognition. With about 90 new deliveries just this spring alone, the mounted 6-meter-wide precision sprayer is an unprecedented success in the Netherlands.
Two years ago, the first ARA spot sprayer from Ecorobotix was delivered in the Netherlands. Last year, there were already 12, and this spring, another 90 new ARA precision sprayer machines from Ecorobotix are going to buyers. The market seems to embrace the 6-meter-wide super-accurate sprayer, priced just above €100,000.
The foldable Ecorobotix ARA spot sprayer, weighing only 1,100 kilograms, is mounted on the rear linkage. At the front, under the hood, six cameras scan the field. At the back, there is a row of 156 individually controlled spray nozzles spaced just 4 centimeters apart. The hood primarily serves to shield the cameras from sunlight.
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Under the hood of the ARA spot sprayer, six cameras scan the field. At the rear, there is a row of 156 individually controlled spray nozzles spaced just 4 centimeters apart. - Photo: Wout van Assendelft
Smart software analyzes camera images
The strength lies in intelligence. At a maximum driving speed of 7 km/h, smart software analyzes the camera images, distinguishes crop plants from weeds and potato volunteers, and immediately controls the spray nozzles.
The computer examines squares of 6×6 centimeters. This makes the ARA spot sprayer extremely precise. You can even target weeds or volunteers within the row. By spraying only volunteers or weeds, the crop can continue to grow – unlike with full-field spraying – without experiencing a setback, or growth arrest.
Algorithm for each crop
The ARA spot sprayer is used in precision spraying of potato volunteers in arable crops, particularly in beets and onions, and for docks and thistles in grassland. The potential is enormous. Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), the machine continues to learn indefinitely.
The Ecorobotix headquarters in Switzerland receive a lot of data and use it to improve the computer system. That software, the algorithm, is different for each crop. The algorithms for weed and potato volunteer control in onions and beets work well, while for carrots and chicory, developers are still fine-tuning. This requires ongoing development and maintenance. As a buyer, you pay annual subscription fees of €9,500 for this.
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The 6-meter-wide spray boom of the ARA spot sprayer is essentially a series of nozzles. These nozzles individually control the precision spray to precisely and exclusively target the observed weeds or regrowth.
Precision and intelligence make the difference
Spot spraying, treating specific spots rather than the entire field, is not a new technique. However, it never gained real traction in the Netherlands. The strength of the ARA spot sprayer seems to lie in its precision, the intelligence of recognizing weeds autonomously, and the fact that you can complete the task with a single machine in one pass. There’s no need to create separate task maps.
The sales success proves that the machine is being embraced in practice. “The business case just adds up. Buyers can recoup their investment in the machine,” says Luuk Banken of Abemec, a mechanization company that sells the machines and handles the hardware. Knowledge provider Doorgrond.nl manages the software and assists users.
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Being able to accurately estimate the amount of pesticide needed on a particular field relies on the expertise of the driver.
User experiences
Fully automatic doesn’t mean it’s just a matter of hooking up and driving. The operator needs to have quite a bit of knowledge and insight into weather, dosing, and adjustment. “There’s more to it than with a self-propelled field sprayer,” says one contractor. The importer indicates a capacity of 4 hectares per hour. In practice, users achieve about 2 hectares per hour, including filling the front tank and transport. For a robotic application, that’s still quite substantial.
Users praise the operation and control via the tablet. It also records where spraying has been done. This gives the grower an idea of weed pressure and problem areas regarding potato volunteers. The finish could be slightly better. “There are more computer people at Robotix, not machine builders. This has been improved on the new machines,” says one user.
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The fixed working width of 6 meters poses a disadvantage in onion beds of 2.25 meters. In such cases, you effectively utilize only 4.5 meters. With an additional 75 centimeters of working width, the capacity of the ARA-spotsprayer increases by 50%.
Win-win machine
Meanwhile, Ecorobotix is growing rapidly and recently secured tens of millions in new investments, including from chemical giants BASF and Yara. They also see the importance of using crop protection products sparingly to maintain approval in the future.
The ARA spot sprayer can save 80 to 95% of the product. For this reason, the precision spraying machine is not only economically viable but also contributes to a lower environmental footprint. So, it’s a win-win machine.
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