The technologies in the field of mobile machines are developing rapidly. In this context, the Chair of Agricultural Systems Engineering at the TU Dresden in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück and the University of Applied Sciences Geisenheim has now developed the autonomous plantation care robot elWObot with electric drives for fruit and wine growing. Robot Makers GmbH was responsible for the sensitive base control of the robot.

The elWObot is to take over care tasks in wine and fruit growing independently in the future. The basis for this is the autonomous navigation. This enables the robot to locate itself between the rows of trees, depending on the pre-defined task. In the future, the robot will also carry out tasks while driving. These include spreading fertilizers and pesticides as well as mulching the tramline. Collection and transport of harvest boxes, monitoring of tree population and yield, detection and logging of fallen fruit, yield estimation and soil preparation are to follow. Developments of this kind are summarized under the term “mobile automation”. In the long term, the autonomous operation of the working machines is planned. The demand for these systems is also high in fruit and wine growing.