Free Open Day FIRA offers many live demonstrations

“We thought it would be a good idea to offer this free extra event on our platform”, Co-Director Gwendoline Legrand of FIRA says. “New participants can join too.” Ms Legrand expects more than thousand participants to join the online event.

According to Ms Legrand, the event is partially dedicated to collaboration and business. “People can meet again and do some networking”, she says. “You can meet anyone in the ag robotics industry worldwide. Networking is very easy with the FIRA platform. And it is dedicated to the ag robotics industry.”

In-field live robot demonstrations

Participants can also join panel discussions about ‘Ag robotics in Oceania’ and ‘The technological challenges faced by robot manufacturers. There will also be many in-field live robot demonstrations. Participating robotics companies are Agrointelli, GRobomac, Naïo Technologies, Earth Rover, Pixelfarming Robotics, PeK Automotive, Meropy, Dahlia Robotics and Nexus Robotics.

“The live robot demonstrations are again very interesting”, Ms Legrand emphasises. “We really want to take our participants into the field. During the winter, when we had the World FIRA, it was more difficult to do live robot demonstrations. This time many manufacturers are able to conduct their in-field demonstrations real-time.”

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Competitive challenge

Many participants have already confirmed they will join the FIRA Open Day. “We don’t know yet exactly how many people will connect, but it is a worldwide event and we have 1,500 registrants from the World FIRA last year”, Ms Legrand points out. “But we also expect new people, that understand that the future of farming is happening right now. They may not be innovators or early adopters but maybe just curious to see what agtech can offer them.”

Panel discussions

Ms Legrand says the two panel discussions will prove to be interesting as well. In one of these discussions, panellists will be focusing on the supply of raw materials, that is becoming a real competitive challenge for ag robotics players. Start-ups and big companies must be agile, to adapt their production chain and ensure deliveries. With increasingly long delays in the availability of technologies and rising costs, how can companies guarantee the continued production of autonomous machines at affordable prices?

The agtech markets of Australia and New Zealand are the focal point of another panel discussion. Both countries already offer integrated autonomous solutions for farming, are innovative and open to new technologies trials. Australia and New Zealand are well located to enter the Pacific Asian markets. And growers in Australia have high need for automation, and have specific crops and ways of working soils.