After completing his masters in Biosystems Engineering in Wageningen, Ard Nieuwenhuizen obtained his PhD in 2009 on research on the identification of weeds between sugar beets. Immediately after receiving his degree, he was employed by Wageningen Plant Research, where he still works. Nieuwenhuizen spent five intermittent years working in the private sector on the development of automatic and self-driving farming vehicles. ‘I want to contribute to an excellent food supply in a healthy world. Healthy meaning a world in which the soil doesn’t dry out, and the grass is not affected by herbicides. All living things adjust to the environment. It is precisely that diversity and unpredictability in nature that makes developing technology so much fun.’
Farmers aim to decrease the use of herbicides. But, there is insufficient labour available in both conventional and organic farming to remove weeds and harvest by hand. Wageningen researchers develop self-learning robots that pull weeds and harvest with increasing skill. Since humans and robots will likely increasingly work together in…