The tedious task of harvesting asparagus by hand could soon be a thing of the past: Engineers at the University of Bremen are currently working together with partners from the private sector on the development of an automatic asparagus harvester. The goal is for the “AutoSpar” to harvest six asparagus spears per minute. In 2010 the research team presented the prototype resulting from a two-year EU project. “AutoSpar” has now been taken to the premises of STRAUSS, our cooperation partner, where the next phase of the project will soon begin”, says Dr.Holger Raffel from Bremer Centrum für Mechatronik (BCM) at the University of Bremen. “We still have some work to do before it is ready to go to market and we can start with acquiring customers”. Asparagus farmers are already showing keen interest in the innovation. The next two-year development phase, called the DASH project (Demonstration of the AutoSpar Harvesting machine used for white and violet asparagus) is being funded in an amount of EUR 700,000 within the context of the Seventh Framework Program of the European Commission. The remaining part of the EUR 1.3 million is being contributed by the private partners.
Almost ready for the market in May 2013
The special-purpose vehicle identifies and cuts the asparagus spears with the aid of intelligent image and sensor data processing, electronic drive systems, and mechanical positioning elements, lifts them out of the soil, and then packs them into trays. “After the next nine-month development phase, our aim is that `AutoSpar` will be in the fields by the next asparagus harvest in May 2013. By that time, too, it will more reliable and equipped with extra functions – so by then it really will be a marketable product”, says Raffel. The researchers expect that their innovative invention will make farmers less dependent on seasonal harvest labor, since in future only two to three machines and one operator will be necessary.
The project cooperation partners:
Participating in the development of "AutoSpar" are the Bremer Centrum für Mechatronik (BCM) at the University of Bremen, the food technology specialist BIOZOON GmbH in Bremerhaven – also the consortium leader, international small- and medium-sized firms, the Dutch partner IMIX Vision Support Systems, and STRAUSS Verpackungsmaschinen GmbH in Buxtehude. STRAUSS and BCM will work together on the mechanical engineering aspects of “AutoSpar”, developing it into a robust machine suitable for harvesting asparagus crops. The machine will be adapted to suit Eastern European requirements by the Rumanian Tritecc technology transfer center, ensuring that “AutoSpar” makes its debut all over Europe.
You will find more information in the Internet under www.autospar.net.
For further information, please contact:
Universität Bremen
Bremer Centrum für Mechatronik (BCM)
Dr.-Ing. Holger Raffel
Phone: +49 421 218-62690
e-mail: raffelprotect me ?!mechatronik-bcmprotect me ?!.de
BIOZOON GmbH
Matthias Kück
Phone: +49 471 9292850
e-mail: mkprotect me ?!biozoonprotect me ?!.de
