High tech meets Agro - Robots, sensors and visionHigh volume harvesting machine for white asparagus

Ad Vermeer | Thérèse van Vinken 9 November 2016

What is the Problem?

• White asparagus are still harvested manually

• Heavy work, hiring workers gets more difficult.

• Labour cost rising, more and more (justified) employment regulations

• Average 30% loss by collateral damage of immature sprouts while cutting full grown asparagus

• Limited quality of harvested products: Violet and deformed spears up to 40%

• Inaccuracy of manual process: For 23 cm finished product 45 cm spear length in soil needed

A problem, a vision, an idea and some cash…

3www.cerescon.com

19 Dec 2014

Start your own company!

Solution: Automated Harvesting

• Subsurface asparagus detection !!!

• Eliminates violet coloring and open heads of asparagus spears more sales value

• Harvesting frequency reduction from 1 to 3 days triple harvesting capacity

• Reduction collateral cutting damage

• Tractor pulled, continuous motion 0.5 m/s

• 3-Row machine, capacity 2.5 acres/hr (1 hectare/uur)

• 2 Cutting/picking tools per row if needed

• Automatic plastic foil handling

4www.cerescon.com

Value Proposition

• For Asparagus Growers:

• Harvesting cost reduction up to 50%

• Asparagus yield increase (kg’s) up to 20%

• Data for horticultural innovation

• Pay Back time 2 to 3 years

• For Cerescon:

• Gross margin on machines > 60 %

• Revenues & technology for building company

• Business in consumables

• For society:

• Waste reduction: more food production with the same resources

• Replace low level jobs by (less) high level jobs

• Cost reduction of product

5www.cerescon.com

Cerescon – High level plan

6www.cerescon.com

2015 2016 2017 2018 > 2018

Demonstrator α-machine β-machine Prototypes Production

# machines 1 1 2 Max 5 …..

# rows 1 row 1 row 1 row / 3 rows (2 dummy rows)

3 rows 5 rows

3 rows2 rows? / 5 rows?

Detection Photo electricalsensor

Subsurface detection (contactless sensor)

Subsurface detection (contactless sensor)

Subsurface detection optimized

Subsurface detection optimized

€ finance

Cerescon= private &subsidies

Private investor & Innovatiekrediet & StartLife

Private investor & Innovatiekrediet

Partly Private investor & Innovatiekrediet

Income from first sales and income on project basis = co-development

Income from sales Regular & project?

Go/ no go based on Milestones

Competition in selective harvesting - 1

Characteristics:

• Autonomous 1 row system

• Low throughput: 4 – 5 asparagus spears per minute (stops for every spear)

• Vision Based: no subsurface detection and lots of missed spears (10 - 20 %)

• Hardly economically viable

7www.cerescon.com

ZZ-Comet

Auto Spar

Competition in selective harvesting - 2

Characteristics:

• Multi row system

• Low throughput: 4 – 5 asparagus spears per minute (stops for every spear)

• Visual detection: no subsurface detection and lots of missed spears (10 - 20 %)

• Cutting based on manual control

• No automated plastic handling

• Non economically viable

8www.cerescon.com

Spargel panter

Competition in non-selective full field harvesting

Machine that digs up the entire sand bed before sieving out the asparagus

Characteristics:

• 1 Row system

• High throughput

• Not possible for whole season: dries out sand bed

• Yield loss 10 to 40 %

• Useful for end-of-season once (contractor)

9www.cerescon.com

Kirpy

Chrisje

Cerescon product & success

“Unfair” advantages:• Unique, patented sub-surface detection (20%

yield, triple capacity)

• Patented, fast “cut and pick in one go” tool

• Fast machine, 1 ha per hour, conceived and proven with top mechatronics companies in our network

• Automated plastic handling

• Wageningen UR working with our team

• Strong user group

• Harvesting cost reduction up to 50%

• No competition so far

10www.cerescon.com

Opportunities for selective harvesting Asparagus is just the beginning ……………….

11www.cerescon.com

And many more…..

Cerescon B.V. Harvesting Innovation

Cerescon B.V. | De Geestakkers 5 | 5591 RC Heeze | www.cerescon.com