World FIRA hands out ag robotics awards, adding US show in ’22

A sixth edition of the World FIRA was held Dec. 7-9 with over 1,500 participants from over 50 countries gathered around agricultural robotics in Toulouse (south of France) and online to discover 30 autonomous machines.

The event was packed with announcements, including the presentation of new models of agricultural robots, the launch of the “AgRobotics Land” territorial brand, two awards for agricultural robotics young companies and startups, and two save-the-dates: the official launch of FIRA USA 2022 in October and World FIRA 2022 in December.

New models of agricultural robots at World FIRA 2021 World FIRA 2021 — Communiqué de presse 2 The World FIRA is now a reference event for the announcement of new robot models by manufacturers. Thus, the French company Naïo Technologies presented its brand new robot model: Orio. Intended for field crops, Orio’s main functions are seeding and hoeing.

For its part, the Danish manufacturer Agrointelli unveiled its new model Robotti LR — Long Range. Its greater autonomy and its unique engine, which uses space in the modules, for a diesel tank with a capacity of 330 liters, allows the robot to operate up to 60 hours without stopping before refueling.

As for Exxact Robotics, the French company presented its compact single-row straddle robot, Traxx, while the Rennes-based start-up Tibot Technologie presented the T-MOOV, a poultry robot with a redesigned design to meet the needs expressed by its network of more than 200 breeders who already use the Spoutnic robot.

Awards

This year, two awards were held during World FIRA. First, the second edition of the Best Field Robot Concept 2021 (BFRC), co-organized by FIRA and Future Farming magazine announced the following winners:

• Specialized — Bale Hawk de Vermeer
• Multipurpose — Roboter de Horsch
• Harvesting — Eve de Ripe Robotics

A jury of international experts selected their concepts from among the most promising robot concepts that have been covered on www.futurefarming.com in the past 12 months and those that responded to a call from FIRA and Future Farming.

At the Best Innovative Ag Robotics Startup 2021 Award, E-Terry was awarded the top prize. The German startup was awarded for its technology, business model, market potential and team, among 11 startups that pitched to investors on Dec. 7 during the World FIRA.

The World FIRA 2021 was also an opportunity to present the new “AgRobotics Land” territorial brand. Inaugurated on Dec. 7, AgRobotics Land embodies the dynamics of southeast Toulouse and its region, a center of gravity for agricultural robotics open to the French and international ecosystem. A mapping of the expertise offered by the region was presented on a dedicated stand. This directory is also available on the agrobotics-land.com website, already online.

About 30 agricultural robot demos harvesting, crop control, weeding, disease detection and breeding.

So many automated functionalities were present at World FIRA 2021. A series of workshops also provided an opportunity to take stock of the various autonomous solutions available to producers. Livestock farming was well represented with Lely and its startups Datamole, Ilmens and Cynomis, as well as poultry robots from Tibot and Octopus Biosafety.

A workshop dedicated to harvesting and picking solutions was also a hit, with the new broccoli picking robot from Agrointelli, or the presentation of robots from Advanced.farm and Harvest CROO Robotics.

3rd Scientific Workshop by RobAgri and INRAe, in collaboration with Wageningen U&R and the University of California For its 3rd edition, the International Scientific Workshop aims to exchange on scientific progress allowing robots to become an efficient tool for farmers.

Moderated by Roland Lenain, Director of Research at INRAE, a dozen projects were presented in three main sessions:

• Decision of a mobile robot for adaptation to a variable context and task
• Autonomous navigation for the farm
• Interaction with farmers and acceptability of robotics.

The end of World FIRA was marked by the announcement of FIRA USA 2022, dedicated to autonomous solutions for North American producers, from Oct. 18-20, 2022, in Fresno, California.

A date has also been set for World FIRA 2022, from Dec. 6-8. The World FIRA 2021 remains open and available until June 2021 at www.fira-agtech.com.