At Azienda Agricola Pantano we are developing the software for the machine of future vineyards

Rovitis 4.0 is the project that actually Azienda Agricola Pantano is leading. The project is founded by Veneto region and aims at obtaining a more robust and usable machine, for more information visit the project.
The project sees cooperation between several partners:
- Azienda Agricola Giorgio Pantano - LEADER PARTNER
- Energreen
- University of Maribor
- CET Electronics
- Terre Grosse 
- CIRVE
- CREA
- Confagricultura Veneto

Such partnership is meant for obtaining a new more robust and reliable machine that could be used by grape growers. The new mechanical platform is provided by the industrial partner Energreen and it will be a tracked vehicle with special features necessary for the autonomous guidance.

​Features

As experienced robotic end-users, we’re working closely with the software team to develop the “brain” of our new machine.

The robot’s main feature is smart vineyard spraying. It follows a pre-set path, designed from grower input, to apply treatments only where needed. On top of that, it collects field data to help grape growers decide whether spraying is necessary at all—saving time, resources, and reducing chemical use.
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The system also comes with a convenient “robot home,” where the machine automatically refills its water and fuel. This keeps growers away from direct contact with chemicals, protecting their health over the long term.

Autonomous driving test on the new mechanical base

Candiana, 09/09/2019

Autonomous driving test on a vineyard with several turning scenarios. Spraying has been disabled in order to not affect the up-coming harvesting of grapes.

Spraying test on the new mechanical base

Candiana, 14/07/2019

Spraying test with autonomous driving in the vineyard. Rovitis uses a lidar (light detection and ranging) for detecting distances to obstacles and compute the optimal collision-free trajectory.

Effect of spraying on vineyards

Candiana, 02/07/2019

Thermographic survey for in-field evaluation of spraying leaf coverage in project Rovitis 4.0. Courtesy of:  "Centro di ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari of Monterotondo" Dr. Federico Pallottino e Dr. Marcello Biocca.

Teach & Repeat on the new mechanical base

Candiana, 16/02/2019

The algorithms developed during the first year of the project have now been tested on the new mechanical base. The system works on the Robot Operating System (ROS). 

Teach & Repeat v1.0

Candiana, 20/08/2019

In version 1.0 Rovitis 4.0 is able to follow a recorded path in the vineyards. In the video, the robot follows a pre-recorded path given by a precedent session with an end-user. With such feature we leave the grape grower to decide on the field where the robot should go letting him/her choosing the best path along the needs of the crop.

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