Fully autonomous sterile vegetative plant propagation with AI, laser cutting and robotics – up to 2,500 plants per hour
RoBoTec PTC GmbH
BremenNew on Amplifa
About RoBoTec
RoBoTec PTC GmbH, headquartered in Bremen, develops and manufactures RoBo®Cut, the first fully autonomous system for sterile vegetative plant propagation. The platform combines plant science, artificial intelligence, computer vision and 3D imaging, contactless laser cutting technology and adaptive robotics into an integrated production system that reproducibly processes up to 2,500 plants per hour. The RoBoOS software platform controls all process steps and can be integrated into existing LIMS, MES and ERP environments; in addition, process, quality and traceability data are generated automatically, up to phenotyping and DNA sampling. Behind RoBoTec stands the family-owned company Bock Plants with over 100 years of experience in plant propagation; since 1980 the team has been working with plant and tissue culture, and in 1984 one of the first commercial laboratories in Europe was founded. Areas of application include berries and fruit, ornamental plants, forestry and biomass, medicinal plants as well as plant breeding and biotechnology. The European Innovation Council funded RoBo®Cut as a Top-7 project out of more than 2,000 submissions with 2.5 million euros; the strategic partner is Ball Horticultural Company.
- Site
- Bremen
- Processes
- RoBo®Cut – fully autonomous sterile vegetative plant propagation (contactless laser cutting), Contactless laser cutting of plant material, Adaptive robotics – gripping, positioning, cutting, sorting and handing over biological material, Bioreactor processing, High-throughput plant analytics / phenotyping / DNA sampling, Plant breeding, Sterile in-vitro propagation in a cleanroom environment (HEPA filtration, UV-C, controlled air flow), Fully autonomous sterile vegetative plant propagation (RoBo®Cut)
- Materials
- Berries, Bananas, Potatoes, Orchids, Lilies, Forest Plants, Medicinal / Healing Plants, In-vitro Cultures
- Certificates
- ISO 9001, IATF 16949, EN 9100, ISO 13485
- Founded
- 2019
- Industries
- Berries & Fruit, Ornamental Plants, Forestry & Biomass, Medicinal Plants & Plant Ingredients, Biotechnology, Plant Breeding
- 01
- 02
Training of the CropAI© models based on real production data
- 03
- 04
Contactless laser cutting of the plant material
- 05
Adaptive robotics: gripping, positioning, sorting, handing over
- 06
RoBoOS control with data capture, track & trace and integration into
Plant Species & Cultures
Berries
Vegetative propagation of berry varieties for fruit growing and plantations.
Orchids
Ornamental plant propagation including orchids and lilies from in-vitro culture.
Forest Plants
Sterile propagation for reforestation and biomass production.
Medicinal Plants
Medicinal and healing plants in sterile in-vitro culture.
Potatoes & Bananas
Documented species for trainable, automated propagation.
In-vitro Cultures
Processing of living plant material in a cleanroom environment with HEPA filtration and UV-C.
Locations
Bremen
DEHeadquarters, development and manufacturing of RoBo®Cut systems
- Materials
- In-vitro cultures, berries, ornamental plants, forest plants, medicinal plants
- RoBo®Cut – fully autonomous propagation system (AI, vision, laser, robotics)
- RoBo®Cut T – Theatre (CropAI training environment)
- ROOTS – Capture station for on-site optimization & training
- Bioreactor processing
Systems & Applications
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RoBo®Cut – fully autonomous sterile vegetative plant propagation (contactless laser cutting)Assembly | – | – | – | 2,500 plants/h | living plants / in-vitro cultures |
| Contactless laser cutting of plant materialMachining | – | – | – | – | plant tissue |
| Adaptive robotics – gripping, positioning, cutting, sorting and handing over biological materialAssembly | – | – | – | – | living plants |
| Bioreactor processingEngineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| High-throughput plant analytics / phenotyping / DNA samplingTesting | – | – | – | – | – |
| Plant breedingEngineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Sterile in-vitro propagation in a cleanroom environment (HEPA filtration, UV-C, controlled air flow)Engineering | – | – | – | – | in-vitro cultures, medicinal plants |
3 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RoBo®Cut – fully autonomous plant propagation system (AI, vision, laser, robotics) | RoBoTec PTC GmbH RoBo®Cut | – | – | – | Bremen, Germany |
| RoBo®Cut T – Theatre (training environment for CropAI models) | RoBoTec PTC GmbH RoBo®Cut T | – | – | – | – |
| ROOTS – RoBoTec On-site Optimization & Training System (capture station) | RoBoTec PTC GmbH ROOTS | – | – | – | – |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality & Sterility
RoBo®Cut operates in a closed cleanroom environment with HEPA filtration, UV-C technology and controlled air flow; the contactless laser cutting minimizes contamination risks. Process, quality and traceability data are recorded automatically, from batch tracking to phenotyping and DNA sampling.
| Evidence | Bremen |
|---|---|
| ISO 9001 | |
| IATF 16949 | |
| EN 9100 | |
| ISO 13485 |
History
- 1980
Start of work with plants and tissue culture at Bock Plants (family-owned company with over 100 years of plant propagation experience)
- 1984
Founding of one of the first commercial plant and tissue culture laboratories in Europe
- 2019
Founding of RoBoTec PTC GmbH by Friederike and Stephan von Rundstedt
- 2024
The European Innovation Council selects RoBo®Cut among the Top 7 of over 2,000 projects and funds it with €2.5 million; awards include the Bremen Founders' Prize, TASPO Award, Bremen Environmental Prize, GHP Biotechnology