ICARO X4 vs Oscar
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.French autonomous field robot from Osiris Agriculture (Illies, Hauts-de-France; founded 2021) that self-navigates row crops via RTK-GNSS and delivers precision irrigation plus fertigation — nitrogen/potassium dosed into the water — through a foldable boom, generating its own electricity from the water flow as it runs (solar, diesel-generator or battery backup when off-water). Commercially sold since 2025 in northern France through distributor Verhaeghe Irrigation; Osiris itself lists crop-protection spraying as a future capability, not a current one.
Best for: Large-scale potato and vegetable growers in northern France (or similar row-crop regions) who already run hose-reel/boom irrigation and want to automate it while adding fertigation — the distributor cites roughly 25 ha as the economic break-even.| ICARO X4 Verified 2026-07-19 | Oscar Verified 2026-07-19 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Spraying | Spraying |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | Italy | France |
| Availability | Pilot / limited | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-19 | 2026-07-19 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Hybrid — electric drive motors with a 2-cylinder Kohler diesel range extender | Electric — onboard water-turbine generator produces power from the irrigation flow itself; solar panels, a diesel generator, or batteries back it up when not connected to a water source |
| Required tractor power | Not required (self-propelled hybrid unit) | Not required for operation (self-propelled); road transport between fields via tractor tow, with regulatory approval for that still pending per one source |
| 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) | 5.08 m long x 3.05 m wide x 3.43 m high; foldable boom extends to 40-44 m depending on configuration (sources vary between 24-40 m and up to 44 m) |
| Weight | Not disclosed | 12,000 kg |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Roughly 25 ha (economic break-even point cited by French distributor Verhaeghe Irrigation) |
| 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 | Roughly 25-40 ha irrigated per week (sources vary), applying about 20-30 mm of water per week; water flow up to 60 m3/h |
| Max speed | 2 km/h | 100-250 m/h field travel speed |
| 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 | RTK-GNSS plus inertial measurement unit for centimetre-level autonomous navigation; onboard cameras for plant growth and soil-moisture monitoring |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | €250,000 |
| Native price | Not disclosed | €250,000 |
| 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) | Direct purchase; base price ~€250,000 HT (excl. tax), indicative €200,000- 300,000 range reported depending on configuration (wheel count, boom width, hose length, tyres, guidance system) — versus roughly €100,000 HT for a traditional hose-reel-with-boom irrigator. Sold in northern France through distributor Verhaeghe Irrigation (Montdidier, Somme); Osiris Agriculture also sells and demonstrates directly. |
| Ongoing cost | Kohler diesel range-extender fuel and servicing; UV panel and weather-station upkeep — costs not published | Not disclosed — no published subscription, per-hectare service fee, or consumables schedule found beyond the buyer-configured hardware options at purchase. |
| 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 | Water use vs. conventional hose-reel/cannon irrigation ~-30% (vendor commitment) · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not disclosed — no CE marking statement found on the manufacturer site or in trade coverage | Not confirmed — no explicit CE-marking statement found on the manufacturer site or in trade press. Osiris is reported to be developing separate "autonomy certification" to run the robot without an on-site supervisor, implying current commercial operation is supervised. |
| 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 | Placed on the French/EU market commercially since 2025; would fall under the autonomous-machine provisions of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, but no explicit compliance statement was found in the sources checked. |
| CAP subsidy | Fungicide/pesticide-reduction positioning may support IPM-linked CAP eco-scheme measures, though no direct CAP reference found in manufacturer materials | Precision water and fertiliser dosing could support CAP eco-scheme water-efficiency measures; no direct CAP linkage has been published by Osiris. |
"—" 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.