Japan: Seed Money Project granted for collaboration between NL and Japan on greenhouse robotics
In January, a seed money project involving R&D collaboration between Japan and the Netherlands on greenhouse robotics, called “JaNeth Onshitsu Robotto”, was granted for completion in 2022. It is one of the 15 seed money projects that have been approved in a joint call from the Top Sector Agri & Food and the Top Sector Horticulture & Starting Materials.
As part of the preparation for the Innovation Mission from The Netherlands to Japan foreseen in the second quarter of 2022, and as a follow up to the Greenhouse Robotics webinar which took place on 25 November 2021, the Seed Money Project was proposed by ing. Erik Pekkeriet, Program Manager Agro Food Robotics at Wageningen University & Research, during the webinar. The project is participated by 9 Dutch partners and 11 Japanese partners, and is endorsed by Ms. Denise Lutz, Agricultural Counsellor of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Japan. The project leader is dr. Gohar Isakhanyan, Researcher AI robotics, digitalization and IoT at Wageningen University & Research.
This seed money project will promote collaborations between Dutch ag-tech, high-tech and Japanese robotics and ag-tech industries, and find collaboration pathways. The main objective is to develop an R&D PPP project (>€1M) and explore opportunities to set several B2B projects that tackle (2-4) robotic applications leading to more autonomy in greenhouse horticulture.
The project will start with a brief state of the art technical application report from a global perspective. This will lead to increased industry interest and bring forward new markets to select application domains. Through the innovation mission, focus applications will be identified and pre-selected for the areas where industries can enrich each other. With matchmaking and business development support, the project will target applications and an execution plan.
The following activities are foreseen:
- State of the art Technology Survey and Webinar (Jan-Mar 2022)
- (Online) Match Making and Brokerage actions (Apr-Jun 2022)
- Submission PPS Idea (April 2022)
- Innovation Mission Japan (Apr-Jun 2022)
- Business Development Support (building application specific project plans) (May – Jul 2022)
- PPS submission and provide/support other access to finance (Sep 2022)
For more info see SMP-2206 | JaNeth Onshitsu Robotto - Topsector Agri & Food (topsectoragrifood.nl)
The recording of the Greenhouse Robotics webinar can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/6Pgni4Hv8us
