The Plantalyzer, the grower’s instrument for the most accurate crop estimation.
In seven stories, we will tell you about the partners involved, the unique system, the very latest technology, the various components and how they work. With the Plantalyzer you will manage to get the most accurate crop estimation and solve the daily puzzle. In this fourth story we explain what is involved.

Story 4: Raising greenhouse logistics to the next level

With the launch of HortiKey’s Plantalyzer, Berg Hortimotive is introducing the very latest technology for greenhouse logistics from its ‘Smart Greenhouse Logistics’ program. Because the Plantalyzer is driving at night when no one is present in the greenhouse, high demands are set for autonomous driving.

The undercarriage of HortiKey’s Plantalyzer consists of a platform with unprecedented possibilities. For example, routes are not created with sawn induction lines, but Gridmap technology is used; routes are created and modified on the basis of a digital map. The platform also makes use of GPS. Not the universally known satellite system, but the ‘Greenhouse Positioning System’ developed by Berg itself. With this system, the platform is able to navigate and its location is known at all times. The GPS and Gridmap are automatically linked.

BergDrive is the control centre for smart logistics. The Plantalyzer works with the ‘BergDrive’ software package. With BergDrive the user is able to send commands to the platform which it will then execute. It is also possible to give the Plantalyzer a delayed start time. In this way the commands can be executed without the presence of an operator. For example, the Plantalyzer can work at night, so that it does not get in anyone’s way and the grower can start his analyses immediately early in the morning. Another important function within the system is the database. The data from the Plantalyzer is automatically collected in this database. Through the ‘API’, an automatic connection for communication between BergDrive and LetsGrow.com, the data arrives in the MyLetsGrow dashboard.

Thanks to four-wheel steering and four-wheel drive, the platform is able to manoeuvre itself in front of the pipe rail of a path. It offers the necessary flexibility to move in a small space. The platform drives itself from the concrete path onto the pipe rail. For this purpose, it is equipped with a pipe rail detection system, which enables it to position itself correctly in front of the pipe rail. The platform is therefore autonomously driving on the pipe rail.

Thanks to the very latest logistics technology, HortiKey’s Plantalyzer is able to collect large-scale plant data for tomato growers every night. With the Plantalyzer, Berg Hortimotive raises greenhouse logistics autonomy to an even higher level.

In the first story, we wondered whether the Plantalyzer would be able to eliminate the deltas between prediction and realisation of production.
In story five we will give an answer to this question.