ICARO X4 vs Selective Spraying System (SSP)
Two spraying machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
Italian hybrid diesel-electric robot from Free Green Nature (Colle Umberto, Treviso — coordinated by parent Maschio Gaspardo S.p.a.) that patrols vineyards autonomously and folds out UV-C panels to actively prevent powdery mildew, downy mildew and botrytis, triggered by an onboard weather station ("the Commander of ICARO X4") reading conditions favourable to infection. It is a prevention system, not a curative treatment, and the manufacturer does not publish independent field-performance data — chemical-reduction figures found are vendor-stated.
Best for: Vineyard growers on a single contiguous block up to roughly 10-15 ha who want to cut fungicide/pesticide spray rounds against powdery mildew, downy mildew and botrytis by substituting or supplementing them with UV-C light treatment.Israeli-developed retrofit precision-spray kit that adds real-time selective spraying to a customer's existing self-propelled sprayer — boom-mounted RGB cameras (1.5 m spacing) feed AI that classifies weeds to species level and fires an added line of individually pulsed nozzles, while a second broadcast line still applies residual herbicide. Commercially launched in Israel (2021) and the US Midwest (2022), expanded to cotton in 2025; not confirmed as sold in the EU.
Best for: Established US/Israel row-crop growers (corn, soybean, cotton) running large, modern self-propelled sprayers (2014-model-year or newer) who want to cut non-residual herbicide spend without buying a dedicated robot.| ICARO X4 Verified 2026-07-19 | Selective Spraying System (SSP) Verified 2026-07-18 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Spraying | Spraying |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | AI-assisted |
| Country of origin | Italy | Israel |
| Availability | Pilot / limited | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-19 | 2026-07-18 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Hybrid — electric drive motors with a 2-cylinder Kohler diesel range extender | Retrofit add-on with no engine of its own — hosted on the customer's existing sprayer, typically a diesel self-propelled unit |
| Required tractor power | Not required (self-propelled hybrid unit) | Not required as a towed implement; retrofits onto self-propelled sprayers (reported hosts include Hagie, John Deere, Case IH and New Holland, 2014-model-year or newer) |
| Dimensions | Approx. 3085 x 1550 x 1150-2700 mm (L x W x H, UV panels raised); track width ~1500 mm; turning radius ~900 mm; rated for slopes over 15% (per AgTecher/RobotToday listings — not confirmed on the manufacturer site) | Custom aluminum dual-wet boom; one reported installation used a 120 ft (36.6 m) boom on a Hagie STS12 — width follows the host sprayer |
| Weight | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed by the vendor; independent trade reporting put payback under 2 years mainly for farms above roughly 3,000 acres |
| Productivity | Up to 10-15 ha coverage per unit for preventive treatment (property layout, slope and soil-dependent); up to 72 continuous hours of operation before refuelling/recharging | Not disclosed as a throughput figure; each captured image is analyzed once in real time as the sprayer passes |
| Max speed | 2 km/h | Up to 25 km/h (vendor); around 24 km/h (15 mph) demonstrated in independent field reporting |
| Sensors | RTK positioning (centimetre-level, works without satellite signal per vendor); 4 AI-equipped cameras for pedestrian/obstacle detection; SIL2-certified radar; integrated weather station (wind, temperature, humidity, dew point, rainfall) driving an infection-risk algorithm that triggers treatment | RGB cameras mounted at 1.5 m intervals along the boom (up to 50 fps reported in the field), sub-millimeter image resolution, species-level AI weed classification, day/night operation |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Native price | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Direct inquiry/quote purchase — Free Green Nature assesses a vineyard's coverage via drone survey before pricing; no price is published (a €115,000 indicative figure circulates on the AgTecher directory only — not manufacturer-confirmed). The company is actively recruiting agricultural-machinery dealers and service centres (no established dealer network found) | Retrofit purchase onto the grower's existing sprayer; vendor states no subscription fee for the AI/software. Independent trade press (Sprayers101, 2023) reported an installed cost of roughly $239,000 for one 120 ft dual-boom configuration — a single reported case, not an official price list, and not reconfirmed directly by Greeneye. |
| Ongoing cost | Kohler diesel range-extender fuel and servicing; UV panel and weather-station upkeep — costs not published | No disclosed software/subscription fee (vendor states "no subscription fees"); ongoing costs would include nozzle, camera and dual-tank wear parts — not itemized by the vendor. |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Chemical fungicide/pesticide use in treated vineyard blocks up to -70% (vendor-stated; not confirmed on the manufacturer's own site, which states only a qualitative "reduction or elimination of pesticides") · vendor | Non-residual herbicide use vs. broadcast spraying (2022 University of Nebraska-Lincoln corn trial) -87% to -94% · independent |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not disclosed — no CE marking statement found on the manufacturer site or in trade coverage | Not disclosed — no CE marking or EU distribution found; commercially sold only in the US and Israel as of 2026 |
| Machinery Regulation | No explicit compliance statement found; the machine is marketed and sold within the EU (Italy), so would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions if placed on the market | Not applicable in current markets; would need to meet Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 provisions for automated spraying equipment if placed on the EU market |
| CAP subsidy | Fungicide/pesticide-reduction positioning may support IPM-linked CAP eco-scheme measures, though no direct CAP reference found in manufacturer materials | Not currently sold in the EU; if introduced, spot-spraying would support Sustainable Use Directive / CAP eco-scheme herbicide-reduction targets |
"—" means the manufacturer has not disclosed the figure; we never estimate silently. Model either machine's payback with your own numbers on its ROI calculator page.