Sowing, harvesting, sorting: robots learn permaculture
During this year’s “Innovation Project”, mechanical engineering students built robots that can cultivate a model-scale permaculture garden. In the final, on 16 December, the best teams will demonstrate how their autonomous systems sow, harvest and deliver fruit sorted by variety.
How do you create a genuine technology system from initial sketches through design to programming? The answer to that question is something students at ETH Zurich should discover as early as possible in their studies. This is why the Innovation Project has long been an essential part of the second year of the Bachelor’s programme in the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering.
Approximately 550 students work on this project in small teams to develop a creative and practical solution to a complex technical challenge. The students then test their system in competitive conditions, coached by students who completed the Innovation Project the previous year.
Watch the video below to learn about the role of coaching in the Innovation Project, the coaches' perspectives on their roles and how they assist the students with their challenge.
Innovation Project Final 2025
The final will see ten teams battle it out. On a regulation model-scale track, their robots will plant winter onions, harvest plums and apples, and deliver the fruit to the correct storage facility – all in under four minutes. The vehicle must then return to its charging station independently. Come by and give our students your support:
Back to the roots – Robots on the farm of the future
Tuesday, 16 December 2025, 4 p.m.
ETH Zentrum, Main Building, Main Hall