The main objective of the project was to introduce into the market a novel autonomous solar-powered robot mower for vineyard grass control, mounted with sensors to assess vine health and growth and hence to enable targeted action. It is an innovative combination of technologies which enables the reduction of agrochemical use in vineyards and lowers emissions in comparison to conventional methods.
The VITIROVER robot is a simple and ecological solution for winegrowers to replace weed killers in the vineyards. It is both a solar powered mower which maintains proper grass height and a ‘Vigilant Ecological Guard of the Vineyard’. At the same time, this system is capable of collecting all of the relevant information needed for monitoring the well-being of the vineyard ecosystem and quickly detecting risks from diseases, insect invasion or meteorological stresses. Thanks to these features, wine growers have a better chance of detecting risks or problems early enough to be able to mitigate them in a natural way and thus avoid the implementation of systematic and highly concentrated pesticide-based curative processes at their vineyards.
The product is provided as a service, whereby herds of up to 50 robots are deployed, monitored and managed by the company’s employees, so called ‘shepherds’.
- Project locations
- FranceBelgiumGermanyAustria
- Project website
- VITIROVER