Pressmeddelanden

Background to investment and order

During the year, Ekobot and Unibap, in collaboration with the Robotdalen, conducted a pilot study at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) with Unibap's IVS system and AI modules for identification and later mechanical weed removal. The outcome of the study regarding the intelligent identification of weeds was positive and Ekobot proceeded with a full-scale pilot project for field testing and verification as well as commercialization. Ekobot has received a financial support from the Swedish Board of Agriculture of approximately SEK 9 million.

As part of the pilot development, Ekobot and Unibap signed a letter of intent on November 16, 2017 that Ekobot intended to place an order at Unibap corresponding to approximately SEK 3.7 million for the acquisition of IVS systems, navigation and identification modules, and integration support. The work was expected to be carried out in 2017 and 2018 with demonstrations during the growing season 2018. Unibap intended to invest a SEK 1.25 million stake in Ekobot for a 25 percent interest. Unibap and Ekobot have now completed this intention.

Ekobot is a scalable system that can handle both small and large needs and equipped with various tools depending on specific tasks. The system will be further developed to deal with other needs in precision farming, which means that in future it may also be of great use to conventional growers and enable the conditions for organic farming.

Ekobot was formally founded in the beginning of 2017. Before that, founder Ulf Nordbeck has been working on market analysis for several years to map the current situation and the possibilities of precision farming.

Market

The market for robotics in agriculture is rapidly growing. Within the EU there are approximately 233,000 eco-farmers (end of 2016), of which 5,700 are in Sweden.

• Ekobot can take over much of the manual work while reducing the need for herbicides, says Ulf Nordbeck. An autonomous robot system operates around the clock and can, for example, be used to remove weeds through regular processing.
• Unibap is pleased to engage with Ekobot to provide solutions to the precision agriculture of the future, where there is a significant market potential and important end-customer value for people. This agreement and investment enable flexible automation in agriculture based on reliable vision intelligence, says Fredrik Bruhn. The work of Ekobot shows how Unibap's technology can be used to plan and perform complex work in real time.