Robotics Plus' Prospr, a multi-use autonomous vehicle for sustainable vineyard and orchard production, is now exclusively available from Croplands in Australia and New Zealand.
Croplands, Nufarm's emerging solutions spray equipment platform, and Robotics Plus, a New Zealand-based agritech company, announced that they are joining forces to bring Prospr to the Australian and New Zealand horticulture market.
Croplands is now the exclusive Australasian distributor of Prospr, a robust autonomous, multi-use hybrid vehicle platform for horticulture crops designed by Robotics Plus. Prospr significantly increases efficiency across a variety of crop tasks and alleviates labour challenges, with capabilities including automated intelligent spraying. The distribution agreement complements the existing technology partnership between the companies
Sean Mulvaney, General Manager, Croplands, says, "We are proud to partner with Robotics Plus on the design and manufacture of world-leading Quantum sprayer modules to integrate onto Prospr, the autonomous platform developed in New Zealand for horticulture markets. Our focus on bringing emerging solutions to the market continues with the opportunity to distribute Prospr and a range of sprayer attachments across Australia and New Zealand."
Steve Saunders, Co-founder, and Chief Executive, Robotics Plus, says, "We are all about partners with purpose to adapt and shift to solve problems. Agriculture is time-critical, and with Croplands, we are combining deep domain expertise to benefit growers. We have developed an automated, effective spraying and attachment solution with the smarts to not just do the job but to keep doing it better. Prospr customers in Australasia will now benefit from Croplands' large distributor network, spraying expertise and customer support."
Robust and flexible to maximise utility
Prospr is a robust autonomous vehicle with all-day running that adapts to growers' jobs while reducing emissions, inputs, and reliance on increasingly hard-to-find machine operators. Prospr's modular architecture accommodates multiple interchangeable tools being developed, including newly released tower sprayers for grapes, apples, or tree crops. The right tool for the job is attached to the vehicle depending on the day's work.
Fuel Efficiency
Prospr has an all-electric drive system for superior torque and control. Its onboard power generation, with a Tier 4 diesel generator, allows the vehicle to operate for extended periods without charging or refuelling.
Modular and adaptable
Prospr has a small footprint and unique steering configuration, incorporating electric steering and independent motors. The vehicle turns on its rear axle with a minimum headland requirement of 7.1m for row-to-row turning. Minimum row spacing is 1.85m, giving growers options to deploy automation in a greater variety of applications in various crop types. Robotics Plus' ongoing partnership with Yamaha Motor Co, a global technology leader, allows the company to take advantage of their extensive knowledge in machine vision, artificial intelligence, and productising vehicles for scale. Q Series Sprayers, allow growers to deploy a range of sprayer configurations, adapting to various crop types and growing systems.
For more information:
Croplands
www.croplands.com/au/product/robotics-plus-automated-sprayer