A French vineyard in the Loire valley is a beautiful sight, but the farm has trouble recruiting workers to weed their organically grown grapes. The young generation has moved to the cities leaving urban communities short on workforce. Solution: a fully autonomous tractor, developed by a French-based company Sitia, working tirelessly to weed the narrow rows between the grape vines. After a full month of weeding and hundreds of kilometers covered, Sitia approached the farmer to review the work done, and reimburse 2 grape vines, which were damaged during the month of operation. They were surprised to hear the farmer exclaim, “When I use my manual tractor to get the same job done, I damage at least two vines a day!

Structural change is needed if Europe wants to achieve Wubbo Ockels' life mission, which is to get rid of fossil fuels, meet the Paris climate goals and to break away from unreliable energy partners. With their first mobile airborne wind system (AWES), the Dutch startup Kitepower is the future of energy: their solution is cheaper, more practical, easier to move and less subject to strongly fluctuating winds.

More than 470 investors have joined in and already 70% of the required investment has been raised through crowdfunding. With the gained capital, Kitepower wants to offer short-term power solutions for refugee camps, construction sites and music festivals.

Veridos, a world-leading provider of integrated identity solutions, announces the launch of it’s new VeriCHECK Selfkiosk and M600 document reader at this year’s Future Travel Experience (FTE) Global. The new solutions represent the next generation of products from Veridos’ verification portfolio with the aim to make travel more convenient and secure. 

SoftBank Corp. ("SoftBank"), Japan's leading mobile carrier, completed initial testing of Altaeros' ST-Flex™ autonomous aerostat. Operational and telecom tests were performed at Hokkaido Spaceport, Taiki Town, Hokkaido, Japan. Learn more about ST-Flex: www.altaeros.com.

One of the leading providers of communications headsets, Blue Tiger announced today that it is now shipping the Solare headset, the world’s first solar-powered professional communications headset. Perfect for hands-free driving and home or work use, the powerful Solare headset harvests light from any source, including indoor or outdoor, for continuous use and a virtually unlimited battery life.

The European leading robotics and autonomous systems developer Milrem Robotics will launch a newly developed autonomous Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) unmanned ground system THeMIS Observe that will be showcased during the fourth iMUGS project demonstration in Belgium.

“A UGV based ISR system significantly increases a tactical unit’s reaction speed on targets as well as the stand-off distance from enemy units,” explained Cpt (res) Jüri Pajuste, Defence Research Director at Milrem Robotics. “Thanks to that the capability and survivability of tactical reconnaissance units will increase considerably,” Pajuste said, adding that this type of capability is usually not available on one platform for light infantry units.

Vitestro, a Dutch medical robotics company, today unveiled the world's most advanced autonomous blood drawing device at the annual meeting of the Netherlands Society for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (NVKC) in Rotterdam. Vitestro's device combines AI-based, ultrasound-guided 3D reconstruction with robotic needle insertion, ensuring accurate and secure blood collection. The venipuncture technology is adaptable to patients of 16 years of age onwards, comorbidities, and puncture difficulty. From 2023, Vitestro will initiate pivotal clinical studies for regulatory approval in Europe. EU-market introduction is anticipated in 2024.

Volta Trucks, the leading and disruptive full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, has confirmed the selection of Carrier Transicold as the sole supplier of refrigerated equipment for the full-electric 16-tonne Volta Zero. Carrier Transicold is a part of Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE: CARR), the leading global provider of healthy, safe, sustainable, and intelligent building and cold chain solutions.

The world’s most anticipated electric boat has completed its maiden flight. The foiling Candela C-8 promises to disrupt the gas-guzzling powerboat industry, thanks to a unique combination of long all-electric range, high speed, and industry-first features.

After 16 months of intense development, the most ordered electric boat ever took off from the cold waters outside the Swedish tech company’s headquarters at Lidingö, Stockholm.

After reaching its designed take-off speed of 16 knots, the Candela C-8 prototype P-01 lifted off smoothly, and flew noiselessly above the water at a cruise speed of 20 knots.

-Smooth, and very, very silent, said Gustav Hasselskog, Candela’s CEO after piloting the C-8 on its maiden flight.

Digitisation is delivering an integrated user experience characterised by individuality and emotionalisation in the interior of current BMW models. The My Modes allow the driver to tailor the atmosphere in the interior entirely to their personal mood and the driving experience they want. With the BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink being presented on the occasion of CES 2022, the Munich-based premium car manufacturer is offering the prospect of a future technology that uses digitisation to also adapt the exterior of a vehicle to different situations and individual wishes. The surface of the BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink can vary its shade at the driver's prompting.