Dairy Farming DX: Development of Compact, Low-Cost Feed Pushing Robot Selected for Smart Agriculture Project

Development of a Compact, Low-Cost Feed Pushing Robot via Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration

RIX Corporation, a manufacturing trading company supporting domestic and international industries, announced that its feed-pushing robot under development for dairy farming has been selected for the FY2025 supplementary budget project "Development and Supply of Smart Agriculture Technology" (administered by the Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution).

### About the Project

The research category, "Development Responding to Field Needs such as Low-Cost and Compactness," focuses on developing and commercializing technologies to improve agricultural productivity and solve issues in areas such as intermediate and mountainous regions (limit of 30 million yen/year for up to 3 years).

### Industry-Academia-Government Consortium

The project will be conducted by a consortium consisting of: RIX Corporation, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), National Institute of Technology, Kumamoto College, Kyushu University, Kagoshima University, Rakuno Gakuen University, and Kirishima No. 1 Farm.

### About the Robot

While existing feed-pushing robots are often large and expensive, making them difficult for small-to-medium dairy farmers to adopt, RIX is developing a smaller, more cost-effective alternative. This robot aims to reduce labor hours for feeding, maintain intake levels via frequent feeding, improve productivity, and support the sustainable development of domestic dairy businesses facing labor shortages.

### Future Schedule

- 2026: Prototype development / Initial field verification - 2027: Operational verification in real environments (Fukuoka Prefecture/Cold regions: Rakuno Gakuen University) - 2028: Operational testing in real environments (Kirishima No. 1 Farm) / Final specifications - 2029: Market launch

### About RIX Corporation

RIX Corporation is a manufacturing trading company providing industrial machinery, components, and services to industries such as steel, automotive, electronics/semiconductors, tires, machine tools, pulp and paper, and food.