Winner of Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge to be announced June 8

Can artificial intelligence help cultivate cherry tomatoes in a greenhouse? This challenge was faced by the international teams that participated in the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and Tencent, one of the world’s leading internet companies. The name of the winner will be announced during a free webinar with David Wallerstein, CXO of Tencent.

Greenhouse horticulture could play a crucial role but is hampered by a lack of skilled personnel to manage the cultivation of crops. Artificial intelligence (AI) could help solve this problem. The international Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge organized by WUR, focuses on combining horticultural expertise with AI. International teams conducted an experiment to remotely cultivate cherry tomatoes during six-month period. The tomatoes were cultivated in WUR greenhouse of the business unit Greenhouse Horticulture in Bleiswijk, the Netherlands. Each team had its own compartment in the greenhouse, equipped with the standard actuators and sensors to control temperature, ventilation, screens, artificial lighting, CO2 and irrigation. Climate and irrigation set points, as well as pruning strategies, were designed remotely using AI algorithms.

The winner of the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge will be announced during the free webinar on the many possibilities of AI in greenhouse farming on Monday, June 8 at 9 a.m. CET. David Wallerstein will deliver a keynote. Silke Hemming, head of the WUR Greenhouse Technology research team, will share and analyze the results of the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge. Professor Leo Marcelis of WUR will share the outcome of the challenge on behalf of the jury.

GreenTech, the global platform for greenhouse horticulture professionals, is responsible for the organization of the webinar scheduled for Monday, June 8, from 9.00-10.30 a.m. CET.

Visit here to register for free. 

To learn more about the challenge and its participants, visit here.