Autonomous Winter Pruning: the Future of Viticulture Has Begun!

A robot equipped with the MOLIRIS autonomous navigation system and a robotic arm for cutting operations work together to automate winter vine pruning.

In March, the first field trial of automated winter pruning was carried out, thanks to the integration of two robotic subsystems: autonomous navigation and automated identification of pruning points.

📍 The test took place in an experimental vineyard at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Piacenza, as part of the RAISE – Robotics and AI for Socio-economic Empowerment project, funded by the PNRR.

💡 Two technologies working in synergy:

🔹 Italian Institute of Technology (IIT): development of the algorithm for identifying pruning points and execution of cuts using a robotic arm.

🔹 Info Solution: development of the row-autonomous navigation system, based on multi-plane LiDAR sensors, ensuring correct robot positioning throughout the entire process.

🌿 A concrete application of ecorobotics and precision agriculture, tackling one of the most delicate and complex tasks in vineyard management in an innovative way.

✅ Objectives of the field trial:
– Increase safety and operational efficiency
– Reduce environmental impact through targeted actions
– Support human labour in tasks with high cognitive and physical demand

📄 The official RAISE project website also covered the story:
👉 Read the full article on raiseliguria.it

🔗 Find out more about Info Solution’s autonomous robots: https://infosolution.it/en/ready-to-use-autonomous-robots/