Market seems to embrace the Ecorobotix ARA-spotsprayer

The success of the Ecorobotix ARA spot sprayer is remarkable. Rarely has a newcomer established itself so quickly with a new machine in the Dutch market. - Photos: Jan Willem Schouten

A machine manufacturer outside the established order, growing rapidly to a multimillion-dollar turnover with a new machine is extremely rare. Ecorobotix achieves this with its ARA spot sprayer based on AI weed recognition. With about 90 new deliveries just this spring alone, the mounted 6-meter-wide precision sprayer is an unprecedented success in the Netherlands.

Two years ago, the first ARA spot sprayer from Ecorobotix was delivered in the Netherlands. Last year, there were already 12, and this spring, another 90 new ARA precision sprayer machines from Ecorobotix are going to buyers. The market seems to embrace the 6-meter-wide super-accurate sprayer, priced just above €100,000.

The foldable Ecorobotix ARA spot sprayer, weighing only 1,100 kilograms, is mounted on the rear linkage. At the front, under the hood, six cameras scan the field. At the back, there is a row of 156 individually controlled spray nozzles spaced just 4 centimeters apart. The hood primarily serves to shield the cameras from sunlight.

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Under the hood of the ARA spot sprayer, six cameras scan the field. At the rear, there is a row of 156 individually controlled spray nozzles spaced just 4 centimeters apart. - Photo: Wout van Assendelft

Smart software analyzes camera images

The strength lies in intelligence. At a maximum driving speed of 7 km/h, smart software analyzes the camera images, distinguishes crop plants from weeds and potato volunteers, and immediately controls the spray nozzles.

The computer examines squares of 6×6 centimeters. This makes the ARA spot sprayer extremely precise. You can even target weeds or volunteers within the row. By spraying only volunteers or weeds, the crop can continue to grow – unlike with full-field spraying – without experiencing a setback, or growth arrest.

Algorithm for each crop

The ARA spot sprayer is used in precision spraying of potato volunteers in arable crops, particularly in beets and onions, and for docks and thistles in grassland. The potential is enormous. Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), the machine continues to learn indefinitely.

The Ecorobotix headquarters in Switzerland receive a lot of data and use it to improve the computer system. That software, the algorithm, is different for each crop. The algorithms for weed and potato volunteer control in onions and beets work well, while for carrots and chicory, developers are still fine-tuning. This requires ongoing development and maintenance. As a buyer, you pay annual subscription fees of €9,500 for this.

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The 6-meter-wide spray boom of the ARA spot sprayer is essentially a series of nozzles. These nozzles individually control the precision spray to precisely and exclusively target the observed weeds or regrowth.

Precision and intelligence make the difference

Spot spraying, treating specific spots rather than the entire field, is not a new technique. However, it never gained real traction in the Netherlands. The strength of the ARA spot sprayer seems to lie in its precision, the intelligence of recognizing weeds autonomously, and the fact that you can complete the task with a single machine in one pass. There’s no need to create separate task maps.

The sales success proves that the machine is being embraced in practice. “The business case just adds up. Buyers can recoup their investment in the machine,” says Luuk Banken of Abemec, a mechanization company that sells the machines and handles the hardware. Knowledge provider Doorgrond.nl manages the software and assists users.

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Being able to accurately estimate the amount of pesticide needed on a particular field relies on the expertise of the driver.

User experiences

Fully automatic doesn’t mean it’s just a matter of hooking up and driving. The operator needs to have quite a bit of knowledge and insight into weather, dosing, and adjustment. “There’s more to it than with a self-propelled field sprayer,” says one contractor. The importer indicates a capacity of 4 hectares per hour. In practice, users achieve about 2 hectares per hour, including filling the front tank and transport. For a robotic application, that’s still quite substantial.

Users praise the operation and control via the tablet. It also records where spraying has been done. This gives the grower an idea of weed pressure and problem areas regarding potato volunteers. The finish could be slightly better. “There are more computer people at Robotix, not machine builders. This has been improved on the new machines,” says one user.

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Loonbedrijf Van Dun in Rutten (Flevoland) has been using the Ecorobotix ARA-spotsprayer since 2022. Van Dun employs the machine in onions, sugar beets, and carrots. They have experience with it on 800 hectares. - Photo: Frank van Dun

Contractor Frank van Dun: ‘After update, it’s like a whole new machine’

Van Dun’s contracting company has been operating a purchased ARA spot sprayer on behalf of Agrifirm since 2022. For this season, the contractor bought one for himself, so now there are two machines in operation.
“It’s just the future. It saves spray material, and the crop grows better,” explains owner Frank van Dun. “We’re in a seed potato area, the Northeast Polder; normally we control potato volunteers here manually with a stick or hook. With the ARA, it’s much faster.” Van Dun mainly operates in beets and onions. “We ran smoothly. We have good support from the Doorgrond guys. Carrot testing was done last year. That algorithm still needs improvement.”

The contractor sees the importance primarily for the long term. “There is already much less chemistry available. We will have to save significantly on the remaining materials to keep them in the future. Agriculture really wants to cooperate with this saving and sustainability effort.”

Knowledge of products necessary

“You need to know about the products, how much wind you can still work with. But operating the machine itself is simple,” says driver Ronald van de Beek. “If you’re driving it for the first time, you might be surprised. We’ve had three years of experience now, which makes a difference. You need to adjust it properly, for example, the safety margin around the plant. Do you want to keep 2, 4, or 6 centimeters away from the onion plant? You can adjust all of that, and then you can also play with the dosing.”

90% reduction in chemical usage compared to broadcast spraying

Chemical usage is significantly lower due to spot spraying. “I think you use 10% of what you would normally use. So, a 90% saving. Although I don’t always know how much would be used otherwise with broadcast spraying. And it depends on your goal: do you only want to tackle potato volunteers, or all weeds?” With a lot of weeds in a field, often a nozzle opens up and mist can hang under the machine. That’s not desirable. The main focus is on potato volunteers. And the ARA does that perfectly.

“The machine does exactly what it was designed for. It’s ready for practical use, I’m very positive. Between our first and second year, the algorithm has improved a lot. Since the update in early 2023, it’s like a completely new machine, even better. With a large capacity. You can cover up to 2 hectares per hour; with a higher dosage, you drive a bit slower. The downside is that it doesn’t fit nicely on 2.25-meter-wide beds, and with 1.5-meter beds, you can’t always drive over the seedbed. The machine can then become uneven. The biggest advantage: you no longer spray on the crop. It doesn’t stop growing, remains vital, and is less susceptible to diseases.”

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The Begeman partnership in Nieuwe Pekela (Groningen) operates 130 hectares of arable land and leases an additional 60 hectares. They have been using the ARA since May 2023. Begeman employs the machine in onions, sugar beets, and chicory. They have experience with it on 600 hectares. - Photo: Gerben Begeman

Farmer Gerben Begeman: ‘A miracle what this machine can do’

Dutch farmer Gerben Begeman now has a full season of experience with the Ecorobotix ARA spot sprayer. He purchased the machine together with his neighbor Engelkes-Hoving to spot spray potato volunteers in onions and sugar beets.

“Here we grow 1:2 or 1:3 starch potatoes. With mild winters, potato volunteers are a real problem.” The entrepreneurs started calculating. “It’s a fairly expensive machine. By doing some custom work with it, it should pay off, was our conclusion. We calculated with 150 hectares for third parties,” Gerben reflects. The partnership had a flying start last season. Many colleagues were also curious. The machine performed well, and the conditions were favorable. “It was dry every day, so you could really cover hectares.”

The beginning was a bit of an adjustment. “The machine just handles everything itself, including the height of the spray boom. You have to trust it. At first, we were a bit nervous and often checked the first fields we treated. After a few days, we saw that it was going well. A relaxed feeling, you can’t adjust much yourself, so you make few mistakes. It quickly became clear: it’s a miracle what this machine can do.”

Spraying at night too

The phone was literally ringing off the hook. So the idea arose among the partners to also spray at night. “We thought it would be even better, as the cameras wouldn’t have any light interference at all. But then it turned out that some potato varieties stand their leaves up at night. So, the spot sprayer didn’t recognize all the volunteers anymore. Quite logical, the machine is very smart, but at such times also very ‘dumb’. You have to see the humor in it and understand how the machine works.” Gerben addresses such issues with Doorgrond.nl. “They are working on it. We are very satisfied with them, they are really great. You can call them day and night.”

The algorithm works well in sugar beets and onions, recognizing potato volunteers almost flawlessly. In chicory, it was still insufficient. “Every 1,000 seconds, it sends six photos to Switzerland. The algorithm learns from them. In chicory, the machine now sends photos more frequently. This allows the manufacturer to improve it faster. It won’t be more accurate overnight, but it will be next year.”

‘Good crop growth saves euros’

The ARA is performing well overall. However, the computer occasionally froze. Gerben expects this to be resolved by replacing a cable. Does the machine also pay off in terms of saving resources? “It’s very difficult to say, but I can believe 80 to 95% savings. It’s about the crop. A broadcast spraying with Starane in onions costs you one or two weeks of growth. I’m not saying that we don’t hit any onions with the Ecorobotix, but significantly fewer. Saving on resources saves money, and good crop growth saves even more. Especially in a season like last year.”

Tackling potato volunteers remains the main task. The weed pressure is so high that spot spraying adds little in this region. Gerben: “My father always says: if we remove all the weed seeds here, the soil will sink half a meter.” Finally, the farmer is also full of praise for the machine’s operation. “It’s childishly simple, the hardest part is perhaps estimating the amount of spray liquid you need to prepare. You have to get a feel for it.”

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The fixed working width of 6 meters poses a disadvantage in onion beds of 2.25 meters. In such cases, you effectively utilize only 4.5 meters. With an additional 75 centimeters of working width, the capacity of the ARA-spotsprayer increases by 50%.

Win-win machine

Meanwhile, Ecorobotix is growing rapidly and recently secured tens of millions in new investments, including from chemical giants BASF and Yara. They also see the importance of using crop protection products sparingly to maintain approval in the future.

The ARA spot sprayer can save 80 to 95% of the product. For this reason, the precision spraying machine is not only economically viable but also contributes to a lower environmental footprint. So, it’s a win-win machine.

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Matthijs Verhagen Machinery writer

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According to Niqo Robotics, the farmers who have used the technology, reported up to 60% chemical cost savings in the early stages of spray without any compromise on efficacy. - Photos: Niqo Robotics

25-04 | Article

Market seems to embrace the Ecorobotix ARA-spotsprayer

Smart software analyzes camera images

Algorithm for each crop

Precision and intelligence make the difference

User experiences

Win-win machine

Join 17,000+ subscribers

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