ROMBOMATIC
Knowledge of plant and technique: 1 + 1 = 3
Application of knowledge of plant and technique make that you can improve your production. Our technical consultant,
K: Who is Rombomatic B.V. and what does this company wish to accomplish?
Rom: Rombomatic B.V. is the company behind the Rombomatic cutting robots. Such a cutting robot evaluates stems and takes cuttings from them, next the robot can dip the cuttings in rooting powder and plants them into a pot or tray. One Rombomatic machine exist out of 4 robot modules.
K: How has this machine been developed?
Rom: Particularly Bert Rombouts and his sons William and Peter have been involved intensively in the technical developments. Rombomatic B.V. cooperates very closely with a development company and Aris in
K: Would you like to explain how a Rombomatic works?
Rom: One machine accommodates 4 robots, 8 lifts and 8 cameras. The stems are fed into a product support by hand and the product support is transported by a transport system to one of the 8 lifts. To reduce cycle time, each robot has 2 lifts at its disposal. And with each lift goes one camera. To collect 3D information with only one camera, the stem is rotated around inside the lift. This way the camera can examine the stem from all sides. The information which is registered by the camera is compared to the settings which the nurseryman has entered in the Rombomatic’s computer. Is the leaf surface large enough? Is the internodium too short? Or is the internodium too long so there must be snipped off a bit first? As an option there can be set that the cutting must be dipped in rooting powder.
Afterwards the robot plants the cuttings exactly according to the desired pattern, angle and depth in the pot. With the leafs all facing the same direction to guarantee maximum light interception.
K: Lies the advantage of a Rombomatic only in the reduction of labour?
Rom: The advantage lies both in the reduction of labour costs and the cultivation-technical aspects. The reduction of labour with the Rombomatic is enormous. Depending on the situations with the users, the saving on labour costs is so high that the total investment in a Rombomatic already repay within 2 ½ years. That is unprecedentedly fast! Moreover, the Rombomatic offers enormous chances of improving the cultivation! The robots cut, dip and plant so consequent that the potted batches are very uniform. On a Rombomatic, the settings for leaf surface, internodium length, optional dipping in rooting powder, planting depth, planting angle and planting pattern are all simple to set and adjust. By consequent and good selection and treatment of the starting material at the start of the cultivation, there is less sorting at the end of the cultivation. And that makes for rest and quality!
K: Rombomatic machines are already commonly used in the cultivation area of pot roses. What is the next step?
Rom: Meanwhile there are already eleven Rombomatics in the cultivation area of pot roses. Four of those eleven machines are the newest type PS-4 and are equipped with a branch transport system. As a result, use of labour can be even more efficient because of the possibility for the inserted branches to buffer. And the developments continue. We are now - February 2005 - nearly ready with the development of a Rombomatic PS-5, which is designed especially for the processing of branches up to
Simultaneously we continue with the development of new visionsoftware which, in the near future, will make it possible to make cuttings of plants like Lavender, Euonymus or Hebe. And our objective is and will continue to be, to build Rombomatics with a repayment period of maximum 3 years, only by the reduction of labour costs! Add the cultivation-technical advantage and we know for sure that our consumers will make money with the purchase of a Rombomatic machine!
K: What is the function of Bert Rombouts in Rombomatic B.V.?
Rom: Bert is part of the Executive Board of Rombomatic B.V. Bert is a shareholder of first moment and initiator of the project. As you know Bert has a nursery which is specialized in cutting, rooting and growing of semi products for nurserymen of pot plants and trees. He is already working for 20 years with the idea of automating the cutting process for plants. Bert, among others, outlines the direction of Rombomatic B.V. We have a very close cooperation with our partners Aris and the development company and we discuss on a very frequent base, the developments, production, marketing and sales. Moreover, Bert also provides the relationship with the world of nurserymen.
K: What is your opinion concerning the use of rooting powder in, for example, the cultivation of pot roses?
Rom: A cutting gets a lunch bag with assimilates the moment the cutting is separated from the mother plant. That lunch bag must bridge the period until the cutting is able to independently produce assimilates. And it can only produce assimilates itself when there is photosynthesis again. Requirements for photosynthesis, apart from light and CO2, are water consumption and an open condition of the stoma’s. So photosynthesis occurs again from the moment that there is sufficient rooting to consume water. The lunch bag must bridge that complete period and provide assimilates for maintenance and growth. With the cutting, root and twinge growth occurs. Both require an enormous amount of assimilates and are competing with each other. If the twinge growth takes place before there is sufficient rooting, it will decrease the growth of roots. And without roots there is no water consumption and without water consumption there is no photosynthesis. Therefore it is very important that the twinge growth gives way to root growth. Auxines that are present by nature ensure that twinge growth is suppressed. But often there is insufficient natural auxines so that suppressing the twinge growth - in the advantage of the root development - must be reinforced with artificial auxines such as those in Rhizopon. I see an enormous advantage in the use of rooting regulators in those situations that we have to assist the roots in the competition fight for assimilates with the twinges. With a lot of plants, rooting regulators offer a measurable advantage in the form of shorter cultivation time, less rejects and more uniform batches. That applies for pot roses and for a lot of other plants as well!
K: How are the cuttings dipped in rooting powder with the Rombomatic?
Rom: Each of the four robots on a Rombomatic has a powder devices. This is a very smart designed, revolving container which ensures a very precise and even use of rooting powder. It is up to the nurserymen to decide which concentration Rhizopon powder is add into the container, this setting is available at the touch of a button. The powder devices are simply and rapidly interchangeable when a certain variety needs rooting powder of an adapted concentration.
K: How would you like to conclude this story?
Rom: It is all about simplicity. To think systematically. Complexity is our biggest enemy. It is always lurking to cloud lack of knowledge. We think of it as a challenge to make difficult processes understandable. Simplify something complicated so it can be cheaper and better at the same time! The Rombomatic cutting robots are an excellent example of this!