Bosman Van Zaal X NXTGEN
Advancing the future of food safety and sustainability
NXTGEN high-tech aims to take the Netherlands back to the top
The Netherlands is an international leader in ultra-precise high-tech equipment. But the continuity of this position is threatened by political interests and growing competition from other continents. In addition, R&D investments are significantly lower than in other knowledge-based countries, and this is costing growth. The aim of the programme is to ensure sustainable economic earning capacity for future generations and to contribute to solutions for major societal challenges. To achieve this, the NXTGEN Hightech programme is investing around €1 billion until 2030 and will boost the Dutch economy with 330 partners. The National Growth Fund supports this programme with €450 million.
Six application areas that make the Netherlands stronger
Over the next seven years, smart solutions will be hard at work within six areas:
- Agrifood: the introduction of fast and precise robots in agriculture and horticulture.
- Biomedische productiontechnology: production technology for new chips, which mimic organs and accelerate the search for new drugs without animal testing.
- Composites: compact, flexible and robotised production lines for lightweight composite structures.
- Energy: clean hydrogen by producing efficient electrolysers with thin film technology.
- Laser Satellite Communication: the step from radio to light. Communication via laser beams, safely and with much greater capacity.
- Semiconductors: the step towards even faster and more economical chips that also switch partly with light.
As a basis, these relevant system and key technologies play a crucial role: systems engineering, smart industry, optomechatronics, robotics, thin film & plasma, semicon devices and bionano.
The Netherlands has been a leader in the agrifood sector for years. We have an enormous amount of knowledge, a strong collaborative mentality and a focus on sustainability. The market is still growing considerably, but it faces considerable challenges. To stay at the top, we have to keep innovating. Bosman Van Zaal is known as an innovative company in the Agrifood sector and is therefore also a member of the Use Case: After Harvest. Agrifood13: After Harvest - NXTGEN Hightech
Increasing food safety and reducing food waste
The Use Case After Harvest works on an automated process from harvest to expedition, with a specific focus on robot-driven harvesting and reducing human influences. The main goal is to improve food safety and reduce food waste. This project aims to develop an advanced post-harvest robot that revolutionises the harvesting and transportation process in agrifood. By focusing on reducing human interaction, improving food safety, and reducing food waste, we are taking a big step towards more efficient and sustainable methods. We are working on integration with existing harvesting robots and developing a transport system that moves smoothly between rows of plants. We are also using automated guided vehicles (AGVs) that optimise the transport of harvested crops. Continuous efforts are being made to further develop the robot's hardware to ensure maximum reliability and functionality.
Participating companies in this UC-13 group are: TU Delft, VBTI VDL-ETG, WageningenUR together with Bosman Van Zaal and Polariks.
