Robot Applies Fertilizers With Gram-Level Precision
Cognitive Pilot has developed a robotic system that controls the application of fertilizers and crop-protection products. The technology can increase the profitability of crop production by as much as 40%.
One of the challenges facing Russian crop farming is the widening gap between agricultural commodity prices and the cost of agrochemicals. Over the past twenty years, grain prices have increased by roughly threefold, while fertilizers and crop-protection products have become seven times more expensive. Meanwhile, these inputs account for a substantial share of grain-production costs, typically between 20% and 30%.
Under such conditions, maintaining the profitability needed to generate earnings and reinvest in business growth becomes increasingly difficult. Agriculture can benefit from technologies that enable crops to be sprayed with maximum precision and efficiency - applying inputs economically while still delivering exactly what plants need for healthy growth and development. Technologies capable of achieving that level of accuracy are inherently digital.
Smart Sprayer With an Autonomous Work Program
Cognitive Pilot (a subsidiary of Cognitive Technologies Group) has developed the Cognitive Spread & Flow system for intelligent control of fertilizer and crop-protection-product application. The project was carried out with subsidy support from Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade under the State Program for the Development of the Electronic and Radio-Electronic Industry.
The robotic system controls agrochemical application rates on a per-area basis. That level of precision is achieved through a valve-control module that receives feedback from a fertilizer-flow sensor. At the same time, a GPS module continuously supplies the platform with precise location and vehicle-speed data throughout the operation.
Work-route maps and variable-rate application data are calculated in advance based on soil-analysis results and computer-vision data from the robotic tractor regarding weed presence. The robot then follows and maintains the prescribed work program.
The new system can be deployed on tractors equipped with mounted or trailed implements, as well as on self-propelled sprayers and fertilizer spreaders, including those operating with autonomous technologies.
Maximum Precision and Efficiency
As a result, application accuracy is maximized while repeat treatment of the same area is eliminated. "When equipment turns around or passes partially or entirely over an area that has already been treated, we deactivate the corresponding sprayer sections to prevent overlap and then reactivate them while maintaining full control over the application rate per unit area. We also switch off the required number of sections when an implement or part of it moves beyond the field boundary so that expensive materials are not sprayed onto roads," said Alexander Yudakov, Product Director at Cognitive Pilot.
Another advantage of the platform is its ability to operate using computer-vision systems. This is particularly important during repeated treatments, when equipment must precisely follow the same trajectory used earlier.
Field trials conducted in seven Russian regions showed that the investment can pay for itself within a single season. The AI-powered system enables savings of approximately 15% on fertilizers and crop-protection products. Processing time is also reduced by about 7% thanks to automation and the elimination of manual adjustments, creating additional cost savings. Most importantly, yields increase by roughly 15% because agrochemicals are distributed more evenly and untreated strips and overlaps are eliminated.
Russian Technology Built With Russian Components
One important advantage of the new system is the guaranteed demand for intelligent agrochemical-application technologies. According to data from Towards Chemical and Materials Consulting, the global Smart Fertilizers Market was valued at $3.85 billion in 2025 and is expanding at an average annual rate of 5.47%. Another advantage is the system's high level of localization.
"The new robotic system uses domestic components and is manufactured at our factory in Tomsk. We have received certification from the Ministry of Industry and Trade confirming that the product is manufactured in Russia. Experts have already estimated potential demand for the new solution at around 8 billion rubles (about $102 million) between 2027 and 2029. The potential size of the Russian market for intelligent agrochemical application systems is currently estimated at more than 16 billion rubles (about $204 million)," said Cognitive Pilot CEO Olga Uskova.
Russian manufacturers are moving beyond individual innovations toward comprehensive management of agricultural operations. In November 2025, Cognitive Pilot introduced its first AI-powered robot, Cognitive Terra Sense, which performs rapid agricultural-land analysis. The new robotic platform for automated fertilizer and crop-protection-product application therefore makes it possible to build an integrated system that combines soil analysis with field treatment.
Over time, that system can be integrated into Russian precision-agriculture platforms that include automated machinery-management systems and long-term crop-yield analytics. This will improve grain-production efficiency and help Russian farmers maintain stable domestic prices while increasing export volumes.
The Russian-developed platform could also become an export product for countries with large agricultural land bases. High agrochemical costs and the need for resource conservation are global trends. Cognitive Pilot already supplies its products to 12 countries, and the new platform is expected to expand the Russian exporter's portfolio.
