Orbiba Robotics joined CERN Venture Connect (CVC) in December 2024, marking an important step towards translating scientific technology into an agricultural product. According to İhlas News Agency's report of 17 December, the company became the first agricultural technology venture admitted to the programme and the only startup selected from Türkiye.

Technology transfer from CERN to the field

The collaboration centres on CERN's Structured Laser Beam (SLB) technology. Under a global licence, Orbiba Robotics plans to integrate SLB into agricultural robots and investigate whether higher precision and lower energy demand can be combined in plant recognition, weed detection and targeted treatment workflows.

CVC is more than an admission badge. The report describes access to CERN expertise, technology-commercialisation guidance and international technology and investor networks. That environment can help assess a laboratory invention against field requirements, safety constraints and manufacturability.

Field evidence will define success

• Integrating SLB with robotic hardware and computer vision
• Researching targeted weed treatment with low-power laser sources
• Testing accuracy under variable light, dust and crop structures
• Measuring energy, maintenance and operating costs for farmers

Admission and licensing do not constitute a guarantee of finished commercial performance. The engineering work must still demonstrate safe beam control, protection of the crop and repeatable biological effects through validated field data.

This milestone documents a Turkish agricultural robotics company entering CERN's technology-transfer ecosystem. Its lasting value will emerge if the technology measurably reduces workload and dependence on chemical inputs for farmers.

Source: İhlas News Agency — A first in agricultural technology