An autonomous system for spraying grapevines is rolling out in the champagne and wine regions of France (writes Nick Flaherty).

The YV01 smart vineyard robot was developed by Yanmar with wine makers and the CIVC, the organisation that manages the production, distribution and promotion of champagne.

The system is powered by a Honda IGX800 air-cooled, two-cylinder, four-stroke 25.3 bhp petrol engine. It can navigate vineyard slopes with an incline of up to 45% and through the narrow vine alleys, even in muddy and wet conditions, at 4 kph.

It weighs 1 ton, around a third of tractor-based spraying systems, and is designed to be easily transported on a small truck or trailer. Its tank holds up to 200 litres of spray.

The robot uses electrostatic spraying technology to ensure that the aerosol droplets are accurately applied to vines, both showing and hidden, minimising the environmental impact of the spraying.

Navigation is via RTK positioning with GNSS satellite signals, which allows the spray nozzles to maintain a consistent distance from the target vines. An operator can monitor the YV01 via a simple remote control, safely out of range of the spray and with no risk to the operator if it overturns.

The robot was developed with an eye to the changing vineyard business landscape, and will address current and future labour shortages in Europe while helping to manage compliance with ever-stricter environmental requirements.

“The YV01 will ease workloads, reduce costs and increase productivity as well as workplace safety,” said Jean-Benoit Bourlon of Yanmar Vineyard Solutions, a Yanmar Group company in France dedicated to the sector.

“The YV01 is also much quieter than traditional spraying machines – something that is appreciated by the operators as well as their neighbours.”