8th International VDI Conference - Smart Farming

Chair: Dipl.-Ing. Ralf Kalmar, Business Development Manager, Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE, Germany

• Challenges and opportunities in digitally transforming India’s millions of smallholder farmers
• The Indian government’s vision implementing the AgriStack data backbone and Bharat VISTAAR’s delivery layer under the Digital Agriculture Mission
• How digital public infrastructure enables commercialization, innovation, and deeper private sector participation across inputs, advisory, and Agri-services 
  Dr. T R Kesavan, Chairman, Steering Committee, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), India

• How to keep the customer at the center of innovation development
• Challenges of developing perception-based systems
• Latest advancements in AI, autonomy, robotics, and automation, with insights into future prospects 
  Eng. Michele Mantovani, Tractor Innovation Manager, CNH, Italy

• Strategic goals of the European Commission
• Technological basis and infrastructure explained
• Use cases for the Agricultural Data Spaces and current status 
  Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Dörr, Scientific Director, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany

Make the most of this opportunity by joining quick and effective 1-to-1 interac tions. Get to know other attendees and exchange contact information.

• AI-driven data fusion for smart prescription maps
• Predictive yield & biomass modeling
• Automated sustainability intelligence: AI-powered MRV & ESG automation 
  Heloïse le Bars, Director Germany, MyEasyFarm, France

• Digitization challenges in value chains across geopolitical and socioeconomic contexts
• Internationally compatible standards and reference models
• Differences in maturity, digitization strategies, and ISO/TC 347 engagement
• Enabling global standards adaptable to regional needs 
  Prof. Dr.-Ing. Benjamin Weinert, Faculty of Management, Culture and Technology, University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück, Germany, co-author: R. Andres Ferreyra, PhD, Industry Data Standards & Collaborations Lead, Syngenta, USA

• Supporting the industry in addressing the challenges of Ag machine autonomy
• Establishing guidelines and technologies to ensure interoperability and compatibility between different brands
• Developing and documenting the needed system architecture for seamless integration 
  Norbert Schlingmann, General Manager, Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation e.V., Germany

• Current safety assessment practices: key testing methods & performance criteria
• Standards and limitations: existing frameworks and future improvement roadmap
• EU regulatory landscape: new Machinery Regulation and AI Act implications 
  Dr. Nicolas Chollet, Research Engineer – Agricultural Technologies, SHERPA Engineering & Agrotechnopôle, co-authors: Philippe Héritier, Director of the Agrotechnopole platform & Clement Moignard, Research Engineer, INRAE, France

• Demand for cybersecurity evolution of agriculture industry: lessons from automotive
• How to gear up as OEM and suppliers for this evolution?
• Important regulatory timelines and how to achieve it?
• Case study & insights: risk analysis, GenAI engineering, and product liability 
  Divith Bajaj, Senior Consultant, co-authors: Ashish Sridhar, Expert Consultant & Prathiba Prabhakaran, Consultant, Vector Consulting Services GmbH, Germany

Join us for informal networking with participants and speakers.

This session features interactive Round Table discussions moderated by experts in agriculture. Engage with fellow participants to discuss sector-specific challenges, needs, and solutions. The focus is on the participants – choose which topic is of most interest to you and introduce your own experiences and questions:
 

Topic#1

Data Sharing through Data Spaces – Why Is This Relevant for the Off Highway Industry and Beyond?
Slawi Stesny, Senior Manager Connectivity and Data, AGCO GmbH, Germany
 

Topic#2

What are the Biggest Barriers Preventing Large-scale Deployment of Ag Robots Today?
James Miller C.Eng FIMechE, CEO, Earth Rover Ltd, United Kingdom

• Introduction of dry matter sensing on a mower
• Harvesting process improvement through real-time sensing
• Future potentials for process automation 
  Dr. Max Bouten, Product Director, Kverneland Group Mechatronics BV, The Netherlands

• Different radar output variants, the pointcloud for maximum flexibility
• Pointcloud radar attributes (metadata), examples in ROS2 & Python
• Post-processing methods & filters, public available resources & open-source 
  Dipl.-Ing. Camille Marbach, Product Management Perception, co-author: MBA Carina Engelhart, Product Management Focus Marketing Off-Highway, Bosch Engineering GmbH, Germany

• Challenges of testing agricultural machinery include costs, time, and variability
• Field tests have strong dependency on weather and plant growth
• High fidelity sensor simulation for development of AI-based perception applications
• Creating edge cases with a high variety of critical scenarios 
  Timo Vullhorst, M.Sc., Field Application Engineer, dSPACE SE & Co. KG, Germany

• Integrated AI-powered field coverage & process planning for open fields, vegetables, orchards and vineyards
• Hybrid localization enables stable autonomy even with unreliable RTK-GPS
• Compliant by design with the EU Data Act, AI Act, and Machinery Regulation 
  Dr. Sebastian Pütz, CEO, Nature Robots GmbH, Germany

• Engaging with customers and early adopters
• Challenges with field scale deployment of autonomous robots
• Feedback loops for future benefit 
  James Miller C.Eng FIMechE, CEO, Earth Rover Ltd, United Kingdom

• Autonomous robots vs. autonomous tractors
• Autonomy in agriculture
• Insights from development, field experience, and customer feedback 
  Fridolin Schuler, M.Sc., Project Engineer, Research & Advanced Engineering Robotics, AGCO GmbH, Germany