Sustainable crop protection and the reduction of chemical inputs rank among the most pressing demands in modern agriculture. Agro-robotics combined with artificial intelligence offers one of the most promising answers. Autonomous platforms able to identify and treat individual plants are moving quickly from the laboratory to the field, and student competitions have become a credible testing ground for the next generation of agricultural engineers.
Within AGRI-DIGITAL GROWTH agro-robotics is the focus of the Slovenian Living Lab. Hosted at the pilot farm of the University of Maribor, the Living Lab is dedicated to the development, integration and testing of agro-robotic and digital technologies for sustainable agriculture and precision viticulture. It brings together robotics, renewable energy systems, precision irrigation and autonomous systems in a single multidisciplinary environment. Part of its activity is student-led and centred on the design of autonomous field robots presented each year at the International Field Robot Event.
From 16 to 18 June 2026 the 23rd International Field Robot Event took place at the DLG Feldtage exhibition in Germany and gathered sixteen student teams from Europe and beyond. The University of Maribor team presented an automatic weed removal system for asparagus fields that combines machine vision, artificial intelligence, a robotic arm and a specially developed gripper able to detect a weed, grip it and pull it out of the soil. The system operates mechanically and without chemical treatment, as part of a more sustainable approach to crop protection.
The University of Maribor team won first place in the Freestyle task, ahead of teams from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Turkey, China, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom. The same team also placed fourth in the navigation task, a further result among the top positions of the competition. The student team was mentored during the 2025/2026 academic year by Assist. Prof. Dr. Jurij Rakun of the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Assist. Prof. Dr. Mitja Truntič of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Simon Klančnik of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.
The result confirms the role of the Slovenian Living Lab as a bridge between academic research and field application. It strengthens the transnational knowledge transfer that AGRI-DIGITAL GROWTH promotes across Central Europe.