IDiAL

Digital Week Dortmund 2023 - Autonomous gardener OmniMan at the IGA2027 stand

Published

09/29/2023

The mobile manipulator OmniMan stands in the Dortmunder U between towers of wine crates on which plant pots with heather are placed. OmniMan transports a plant pot by holding it in its two-finger gripper. In the background are roll-ups from IDiAL and the Intelligent Mobile System Lab. In the foreground, UAS cubes and a heather plant are set up on a crate tower.

OmniMan as a gardener in the Dortmunder U

For Digital Week Dortmund 2023 (DiWoDo2023), IDiAL has teamed up with the International Garden Exhibition Ruhr Metropolis 2027 (IGA2027) to take a look into the future of horticulture.

At the IGA2027 stand, IDiAL's omnidirectional manipulator OmniMan acted as an autonomous gardener. Its task was to sort plant pots with heather. OmniMan transported the small plants autonomously between six storage locations and a counter. However, due to the stand's lack of a water connection, watering the plants could only be hinted at.

OmniMan gardening at the IGA2027 stand

The system uses ArUco-Maker to recognize the plants. These optical markings are similar to the familiar QR codes. They not only allow individual plants to be clearly identified, which enables them to be compared with stock. The exact position of the pots can also be determined using the special markings and used to reliably grip the pots.

Visitors to DiWoDo2023 were not only able to gain an insight into the possible digitalization of a typical nursery process, but also into winter-proof planting.