With no desktop in the gardening industry but being surrounded by many greenhouses in the Niagara region , Canada ( ON ) , automation experts Willem Bijlsma and Bill VandenOever started Bold Robotic Solutions Inc. 2 geezerhood ago . " We noticed that glasshouse still make use of a lot of manual labor . However , as labor costs are increase and - more significantly - as it is becoming more of a challenging to get labor in , automation could offer a solution . " With this idea , they got together and show the company on October 31 , 2017 . They make a high - stop number packaging robot and are presently work on an improved version and blow up the use of the machine in the process .
Willem Bijlsma , Bill Vandenoever and Joshua Schuurman at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference 2019
" The reactions from the diligence were great " , says Bill VandenOever , the in - house Mechanical Designer . After set up the business with his long - time colleague Willem Bijlsma - creditworthy for Electrical Design and Automation - they started to contact raiser and expert . " Everyone is so helpful and collaborative , all are look for ways to improve the industry in world-wide . We are very grateful to be able to work closely with people like Sunrise Greenhouses , and Pioneer Flower Farms , who have played a central role in where we are today . " Also , at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference that guide place in the beginning this month , Bold exhibited for the first time and received a good deal of electropositive reactions and involvement .
Replacing four peopleAfter talking with many industriousness members and doing a lot of enquiry and test , they created their first golem in their first year : the high - speed packaging automaton . " Every three seconds a sleeved plant , with mylar apply and UPC paster sequester , is come down the line . This robot replaced about four people and seems to be more logical than manual labor " , says VandenOever .
Potsizes10 - 15 cmBut can it cover the large diversity of plants the growers are originate ? " The robot can sleeve and pack many different plant in the pot size of it wander from 10 to 15 cm - and around 80 % of the product produced in this area primed in this range . Mums , daffodils , tulips , hyacinth , shrubbery trees and several more crop that are all between that pot size we ’ve trialed , and when there is a new product , we will just essay it again . " Changing the place setting to another can sizing rent only about 10 minutes . Changing industrial plant character and packaging selection only take a few seconds if the stool size stay put the same .
First successful attemptWhen see the robot at work , it seems quite straightforward , but it is say to be the first successful attempt of automatize the packaging process . " We listen that more attempt have been done to create a packaging robot but have not been successful . " The process of creating this automaton was n’t free of obstacles either . " Handling the film was one of the most ambitious parts , as we had to handle it carefully so that it would not tear , but provender into the simple machine to be cut dependably . Another challenge was once we introduce real industrial plant , each plant mixture had unlike prerequisite , and needed to be treat specific to it ’s kind "
Next stepsThe next pace will be to meliorate the golem and see for novel opportunity to support the manufacture with all automation pursuance , explains VandenOever . " We charter a newfangled employee and we are presently OK - tuning our publicity robot and creating a 2.0 edition of it . This interpretation will have better motion control , so it will better handle the plants with the optimize purpose , as well as impart functionality such as the ability to place UPC toughie on either the side or the bottom of the plant . On top of that , we are trying to extend the mechanization solutions in the post - harvest process . For lesson , we ’re verbalize to several national logistics supplier to seem for option to get in touch their internal logistics system with ours . Then , the plants that fare from the greenhouse can automatically be put on our promotional material business . "
VandenOever and his fellow are seeing more chance for greenhouse grower to optimize their processes with mechanisation . One such development is a Production Monitoring system that value the cycle charge per unit of live equipment , and logs the data within their develop software , and equate this data with the agriculturist ’s targets and requirements . " This way , the employees can work towards a sure finish , which improves productivity . In turn , everything will be tracked , so outcome can be better monitored . " Another project they are work on is called a “ Watchdog ” Monitoring System , which consists of an array of sensing element , and logic to track the motion of products on a transporter and to determine if there is a disruption in the stream of products , the “ Watchdog ” will smell and react . This allows the operator to focus on the task at hand rather than have to keep on watch the plant move from one area to another .
Also authoritative to these ' newbies ' in the gardening industry is to make solvent that are available to every case of grower . " The smaller growers often say that they wo n’t be capable to justify the price to automatize , but we are eager to bet for solutions that will profit them too . "
For more informationRobotic Solutions Inc. Bill VandenoeverEmail:[email protected]www.boldrs.com
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