overview

Subsidy and valorisation projects

Introduction

We create and join several subsidy projects

‘Drive Innovation’ is one of the four major themes that set the course for Lely’s strategy. With our worldwide network, more than 550 R&D employees, a growing patent portfolio (more than 1,600 patents), and an installed base of more than 50,000 robotic solutions, Lely is known worldwide as a leading high-tech robotics company with a strong focus on innovation. Currently, Lely supplies customers in 50 countries worldwide.

To maintain Lely’s pioneering position, we initiate and participate in various research projects together with other industry partners, such as universities, robotics developers, and suppliers. Government-supported subsidy programmes enable us to accelerate innovation and prepare our technologies for future regulatory requirements.

explanation

Why we do this

  • Knowledge utilisation

    Knowledge utilisation

    Utilise knowledge from research institutions to support Lely innovations.
  • Inspiration

    Inspiration

    Stay up to date with state-of-the-art technologies and translate them into Lely solutions.
  • Validation

    Validation

    Validate Lely innovations through testing and scientific research.
  • Social impact

    Social impact

    Incorporate societal challenges into the Lely roadmap.

Our facilities

Where we develop, test and validate

Where we test and validate new concepts

During the development of new products and services, Lely has access to several operational farms where testing and validation activities can be carried out. These test farms are suitable for concepts and prototypes that require closer supervision than market-ready Lely products.

For early-stage concepts, Lely works with several farms located near the Lely Campus. As products and services approach market introduction, testing and validation can take place at a larger network of farms around the world.

Where we develop new hard- and software

On the Lely Campus, dedicated R&D office wings support the development of new electronics and software solutions. The 550 R&D employees have access to well-equipped workspaces located close to the R&D test facilities. Within the R&D office wings, there are also separate rooms equipped with testing equipment and spaces for building small test setups.

Where we test new hard- and software

The Lely Campus has several test halls where prototypes can be built and tested in simulated farm environments and where endurance tests can be performed. Each product requires its own specific test facilities. For example, a farm floor is available for testing manure robots, while a simulated feeding rack and feeding crane provide Lely’s feeding robots with a controlled environment for testing new hardware and software.

take a look

The projects we are working on

  • ClickNL ROCO

    Summary

    ROCO develops a design framework for turning professional robots into reliable, intuitive, maintainable and socially acceptable products that integrate naturally into everyday work environments. The project translates academic knowledge on human-robot interaction into practical design principles, competencies and tools for creative professionals. It initially focuses on the agri-tech sector, using dairy farming case studies in collaboration with Lely, while also exploring applications in construction, healthcare and maintenance. Ultimately, ROCO aims to support the development and adoption of human-centred robotic product-service systems that facilitate effective interaction and collaboration between people and robots.
     
    Project duration
    July 2025 - June 2028
     
    Links
    https://www.clicknl.nl/pps-projecten/roco/

  • EIP Dairy Data Oriented Farming

    Summary
    The aim of the project is to enable the real-time integration, combination, and analysis of data from milking, feeding, manure management, and animal monitoring. By translating these data into automatic and proactive control of robots and systems, farm operations shift from reactive management towards autonomous operation. This enables individual ration optimisation for each cow, early detection of deviations in milk quality and animal health, and optimisation of manure quality and emissions.

    Project duration
    January 2026 – December 2028

    Consortium 
    Firefly, Stokman Koudum, Trioliet

    Links

    https://shorturl.at/lPXP2

     

  • Horizon 2020 DECIDE

    Summary
    DECIDE, a five-year Horizon 2020 project, develops and validates data-driven decision-support tools for the control and prioritisation of endemic contagious animal diseases in cattle, pigs, poultry and salmon. By combining animal-health data with epidemiological, economic and other analytical approaches, the project aims to provide early disease signals, support diagnosis and help evaluate appropriate control interventions, including their implications for disease spread, economic burden and animal welfare.

    Project duration
    July 2021 – June 2026

    Consortium 
    UU, Københavns Universitet, Universiteit Gent, University of Liverpool etc.

  • Horizon Europe Dairy 4.0

    Summary

    This project develops and demonstrates the next generation of intelligent automated dairy farming technologies by integrating AI, advanced sensing, data analytics and robotics around automated milking and feeding. The project focuses on the individual cow, using technologies such as computer vision and other sensors to assess health, welfare and physiological status and translating these data into cow-specific decision support and automated interventions. Lely's work particularly covers integration with the Astronaut, individualised milking and pulsation optimisation, milk-access optimisation, the Animal Status Classifier, and validation of integrated solutions on commercial dairy farms. Ultimately, dAIry 4.0 aims to demonstrate trustworthy AI and data-driven solutions that improve dairy-farm operations, animal management, performance and sustainability.

    Project duration
    October 2023 – June 2027

    Consortium 
    Cyric, UAB, TU WIEN, ICCS, Alpes Lasers

     

  • Innovatiesteun Boerenbond – NH3

    Summary

    The project will install the Lely Sphere at a Flemish dairy farm, monitor its performance and conduct independent emission measurements to support recognition as a Flemish PAS solution. In parallel, monitoring and assurance methods will be further developed to demonstrate and safeguard emission reductions under Flemish regulatory requirements. Finally, demonstration days and communication activities will promote market uptake
     

    Project duration
    January 2023 – December 2026

    Consortium 
    -

     

     

  • NGF RE-GE-NL

    Summary

    NGF RE-GE-NL is a large-scale Dutch innovation project that aims to accelerate the transition towards regenerative and economically viable agriculture. Together with 1,000 farmers and partners from research, industry, finance and the agricultural value chain, the programme develops and demonstrates regenerative farming practices, viable business models, monitoring approaches and enabling technologies. Lely contributes by developing and testing technologies for regenerative dairy farming, including solutions for manure and nutrient management, emissions reduction, robotics, sensing and data-driven farm management, with the aim of improving soil quality and nutrient cycling while strengthening the farmer's business model.

    Project duration
    September 2024 – December 2030

    Consortium 
    WUR, LNV, Friesland Campina, Cosun, Fedecom, Royal Eikelkamp etc.

  • NGF NXTGen HighTech

    Summary
    The Netherlands has been a leader in the agri-food sector for years. We have an enormous amount of knowledge, a strong collaborative mentality and a focus on sustainability. The market is still growing significantly, but it faces significant challenges. To stay at the top, we must continue to innovate. Within this project Lely works on enhancing their self driving robots and its capabilities to work together and adjust to the dynamic environment they need to operate in.

    Project duration
    January 2023 – December 2029

    Consortium 
    Sieplo, Trioliet, Wageningen Research

  • OPZUID LDU

    Summary
    The Local Dairy Unit (LDU) project aims to develop a fully automated dairy processing system that enables dairy farmers to transform milk directly from the milking robot into value-added dairy products on their own farms. By creating an easy-to-use processing installation suitable for dairy operations, the project seeks to establish new revenue opportunities for farmers while strengthening local and regional dairy supply chains. The project combines technological innovation, supply chain renewal, and circular production principles to reduce on-farm emissions and minimise the environmental footprint of dairy products.

    Project duration
    July 2026 - Jun 2029

    Consortium
    Test farmers and suppliers

  • PPS LCD

    Summary
    How can the transition to an integrally sustainable dairy farming and dairy chain be achieved in the short term, with a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per kg of milk central? The PPS wants to answer this question. The project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per kg of milk on the dairy farms in their chain by 50%. This by analyses, making an approach and development of instruments.

    Project duration
    January 2023 – December 2026

    Consortium 
    WUR, CONO Kaasmakers, Nestle, Unilever, Vreugdenhil, Agrifirm, ForFarmers etc.

  • PPS RCDF

    Summary
    The consortium of this PPP aims to make dairy farms function more circularly, gradually reducing their dependence on external fertilizers. As a first step in that development, this PPP investigates the agronomic effectiveness of the various manure products from low-emission stables with a rapid separation of feces and urine, including the products that meet the RENURE criteria. 

    Project duration
    July 2024 – June 2027

    Consortium
    WUR, Hanskamp, Slootsmid, NCM

  • SBV Innovatiemodule

    Summary

    The broader SBV context is the development of technologies capable of substantially reducing emissions from dairy housing.
     

    With two projects, Lely is developing new barn concepts which focusses on the reduction of emissions. New barn floors, robots and other techniques will be developed and tested. In collaboration with farmers these techniques will also be validated in real live environments.

    Project duration
    January 2021 – December 2028

    Consortium
    WUR, HAS

     

     

  • TKI TOWR

    Summary
    Shared and local decision making requires shared perception, the efficient use of available floor space, and the increase in overall robustness. The step change development is the autonomous but shared decision making of robots, to make it explicit what the shared goals of the robots are, and to decide locally about capability matching between individual robots, when mechanical problems occur, or differences in expected execution times.

    Project duration
    January 2023 – December 2027

    Consortium 
    TU Eindhoven, Vanderlande Industries

  • XECS Adapt

    Summary

    ADAPT (Application Development on commercially Available Photonic Technologies) aims to accelerate the adoption of integrated photonic sensing by bridging the gap between advanced photonic components and market-ready sensing systems for agrifood and healthcare applications. Both sectors increasingly rely on continuous, reliable, and data-driven monitoring, yet current optical sensing solutions remain bulky, costly, or insufficiently robust for deployment in real-world environments. While Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) offer strong potential for compact, sensitive, and scalable sensing, their translation into application-ready systems is still limited.

    Project duration

    January 2027 - December 2029

    Consortium

    Firefly, IMEC, PhotoDelta

     

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