Autonomous Strawberry Harvesting: Efficient Automation through Intelligent Safety Control The company Organifarms is revolutionizing agricultural production in greenhouses with its autonomous harvesting robot „Berry“. To meet the high requirements for safety, reliability, and flexibility in demanding environments, Organifarms relies on solutions from SSP for its control system. The harvesting robot enables year-round, efficient harvesting of strawberries, which are placed directly into trays ready for sale and weighed. The Challenge: Autonomous Operation in a Harsh Greenhouse Environment The use of robots in greenhouses brings specific challenges. The systems must withstand an environment characterized by extreme climatic conditions – from high humidity to temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius in summer. In addition, the installation space on the mobile, autonomously driving robot units is highly limited. The central requirement for the safety concept is to ensure autonomous operation at all times without endangering people in the surrounding area. At the same time, the system must remain highly flexible in its software configuration, as the robot is in an intensive development phase. Conventional safety solutions often reached their limits here in terms of flexibility, size, and wiring effort. The Solution: The Safety Simplifier as the Central Safety Controller To safeguard the robot system, Organifarms relies on the Safety Simplifier from SSP in combination with a HUKUYO laser scanner. The Safety Simplifier acts as the heart of the safety control system and impresses with its compact design, which is ideal for mobile applications with limited space. Plug & Play: Efficiency in Development and Implementation SSP supports Organifarms beyond the mere provision of hardware with a comprehensive service. The safety PLCs are delivered preconfigured and undergo specific testing at SSP. For Organifarms, this means an effective „Plug & Play“ solution: the systems only need to be installed and wired on-site. This cooperation significantly accelerates the market launch of the „Berry“ robot. Through the combination of flexible software configuration, compact design, and a high level of service support, SSP makes a significant contribution to enabling Organifarms to provide automated solutions for the agriculture of tomorrow. This marks an important step toward making food production in Europe safe and efficient, even under difficult framework conditions – such as the increasing shortage of skilled labor. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Organifarms for the successful cooperation and their trust in our safety solutions to promote autonomous agriculture.