Tomato harvesting robot GRoW wins GreenTech Robot Challenge

The professional jury of GreenTech has named the GRoW tomato harvesting robot by Ridder and MetoMotion as the winner of the Robot Challenge, according to a news release.

According to the jury, the robot platform has a great impact on the horticultural sector and has the highest chance of being successfully implemented in the market.

GRoW was officially presented to the sector last week during the GreenTech trade show in Amsterdam, according to the release.

The robotic platform was developed to reduce harvesting costs, increase picking quality and to become less dependent on available labor, according to the release. It is the first robot with two arms that can bidirectionally harvest vine tomatoes and automates the handling of the produce in crates, the company said.

"We are delighted with the Robot Challenge win and the verdict of the expert jury. It is an important recognition for this meaningful innovation,"  Joep van den Bosch, chief innovation officer at Ridder, said in the release. 

GRoW is committed to saving 80% of picking labor in the greenhouse, the release said. Currently, the robot is at work at two large Dutch tomato growers. More information is available at www.ridder.com/grow , here interested growers can already reserve their own GRoW robots.