A new generation of high-tech equipment is just around the corner

At the beginning of this year, the National Growth Fund gave a major boost to the development of a new generation of high-tech technology. One of the areas of application in which TU Delft is closely involved is robotics for the agriculture and horticulture sector. The AgTech Institute and RoboHouse are working together on various projects in order to speed up innovation in this sector.

A new generation of high-tech equipment is much needed in order to make the Netherlands future-proof. Dutch companies will produce ultra-precise, high-tech machines and equipment for areas of application that include drug development, the production of medical instruments, data communications, production systems, semiconductor production and various other markets. A new generation of high-tech equipment will help resolve societal challenges such as the energy and climate transition and the pressure on healthcare. This will require investment in innovation and intensive collaboration with partners in the sector.

The extensive NXTGEN HIGHTECH project received funding of 450 million from the second round of the National Growth Fund in order to realise the ambitions for state-of-the-art technology. 340 Dutch partners (including knowledge partners, companies and start-ups) have joined forces in order to realise those ambitions. “Without innovation and new technologies, progress is impossible”, according to the consortium.

Six areas of application

The NXTGEN HIGHTECH programme will provide solutions for the Netherlands of the future in six essential areas of application:

Renewable energy: green (hydrogen) energy and new batteries by producing (more) efficient equipment with thin film technology.
Laser communication: equipment for data communication via laser beams, energy-efficient, secure and with a higher capacity.
Health: production technology for new chips enabling miniature diagnostics (lab-on-a-chip), which can be used to mimic (‘organ-on-a-chip’) or replace organs (artificial organs) and speed up the search for new drugs and therapies, where possible without animal testing.
Faster chips: development of equipment for producing even faster and more energy-efficient chips, some of which are also switched using light, opening up more possible applications in the medical, food and security sectors, for example.
Lightweight materials: machines that use innovative composite technology to build lightweight constructions and make transport (aeroplanes and cars) more energy-efficient.
Robotics in agriculture and horticulture: quick and precise robots that will help create a sustainable food chain.

Robotics in agriculture and horticulture

NXTGEN HIGHTECH has six areas of application (see box). One of the areas of application in which TU Delft is closely involved is robotics for the agriculture and horticulture sector. Liselotte de Vries of the TU Delft AgTech Institute tells us more: “This growth fund project will speed up collaboration within and with the sector and both build on and develop research and innovations that will ensure a future-proof ‘autonomous’ agriculture and horticulture sector”.

After all, the AgriFood sector is a key economic activity for the Netherlands, as the world’s second biggest agricultural exporter. In order to make the sector more sustainable and find a solution to the growing labour shortage at the same time, it is necessary to make the transition to production where part of the work is carried out by autonomous systems.

Bringing together different starting points and fields of expertise enables us to carry out targeted research and further develop innovations.
Liselotte de Vries

Through the AgTech Institute, De Vries has brought together several consortia that are now collaborating on specific fundamental and applied components within the extensive programme. That includes collaboration with RoboHouse, the field lab for robotics on the TU Delft Campus. “Bringing together different starting points and fields of expertise enables us to carry out targeted research and further develop innovations.”

Focus areas

There are three focus areas/programmes within the NXTGEN HIGHTECH programme that the TU Delft AgTech Institute and RoboHouse are currently working on:

Digital twins – the aim of this project is to collect as much digital information on greenhouse conditions and crops as possible so that cultivation can be carried out autonomously. This is done using smart sensors which can smell, for example, as well as via intelligent phenotyping systems, enabling cultivation to be carried out with little to no human intervention. What that also means in concrete terms is that inspections, irrigation and harvesting itself are carried out by robotics-driven solutions.’
Harvesting robotics – the focus of this project is the development of an autonomous harvesting robotics platform. How can robotics help carry out the harvesting of horticultural crops carefully and quickly? ‘Take tomatoes,’ says de Vries, that naturally have to be picked without damaging them – a task that calls for ultra-precise robotics solutions but where speed of handling is important at the same time’.
Post-harvesting robotics – the focus of this programme is the automation of handling after the fruit or flowers have been harvested. Tasks involved include determining weight, size, ripeness and quality as well as grading crops and inspecting them for problems and diseases.

TU Delft and the AgTech Institute provide added value in the form of specific knowledge and research into so-called smart embedded systems, edge computing, autonomous systems, tactile robotics, intelligent grippers and advanced sensors.

The funding from the National Growth Fund has enabled PhD candidates and post-docs to be taken on by the EEMCS and 3mE faculties who will focus on sensors, AI and robotics for greenhouse cultivation. A programme which will involve building and testing prototypes will also be started at RoboHouse. The project is expected to start early next year, with initial interim results being expected during the course of 2024.

RoboHouse will assist with the development, testing and validation of prototypes within the consortia and with bringing the research carried out to the market.
Ties van Bruinessen

A total of 3 PhD candidates and 2 post-docs will tackle these topics within this programme, explains Ties van Bruinessen of RoboHouse. The field lab is working on:

Harvesting robotics, through a consortium led by Octiva
Post-harvesting robotics, through a consortium led by VDL
Harvesting support systems, through a consortium led by Sobolt

“RoboHouse will assist with the development, testing and validation of prototypes within the consortia and with bringing the research carried out to the market”, says Bruinessen. The field lab also connects with students by organising hackathons, student projects and events.

Contributes to earning power in the Netherlands

TU Delft is regularly involved in the development of promising innovations and collaborates with knowledge partners and companies wherever possible. By doing that, we realise social impact through the pioneering technologies that are invented here and we contribute to the future earning power of the Netherlands.

At the start of this year, the National Growth Fund awarded grants to several projects that TU Delft is involved in, giving a boost not only to high-tech but also proposals in connection with sustainable aviation, cellular agriculture and biotech.