A bridge between hightech and broccoli
The gap between the state-of-the-art laboratories of Eindhoven University of Technology and an agricultural vegetable farm may seem enormous. Yet Ilias van den Heuvel (23), a Master's student in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, proves otherwise. What began as a graduation project focused on programming a robotic arm, quickly evolved into a far-reaching digital transformation across Verdonk Broccoli's operations.
"I've always enjoyed robotics and programming," says Ilias. That passion began in secondary school, where he successfully built his own robot as part of a class project. In July 2025, he secured an internship for his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering through a fellow student whose parents, René and Sabine Verdonk, own the company. Showing initiative, Ilias approached the university himself to turn this unconventional project at an open-field vegetable farm into an official graduation assignment.
Mission: The Broccoli Robot
His challenge at the company was as clear as it was complex: automating the packaging line.
"When packaging broccoli, it's important that all the stalks are placed on the conveyor belt in the same orientation," Ilias explains.
Faced with persistent labour shortages, the company wanted to automate a task that was still being performed manually by two employees.
Verdonk had already invested in a robotic arm, but the software needed to allow the robot and camera system to communicate seamlessly, was still missing. Ilias took the lead and developed a fully functioning solution. A camera now identifies the orientation of each broccoli stalk, a computer instantly calculates the coordinates, and the gripper receives precise instructions on how to pick and position it.
The result? Broccoli now enters the packaging tunnel effortlessly and perfectly aligned every time.
The system proved so successful that another student is already building on the concept by developing an innovative air-pressure gripper. If the technology continues to demonstrate its reliability under commercial conditions, the company plans to scale up by deploying multiple robots.
A snowball effect in the office
While the robot was taking shape on the production floor, Ilias also identified significant opportunities for improvement in the office. Many administrative processes still relied on spreadsheets, handwritten notes and manual record-keeping. Even staff scheduling was drawn by hand each day on a whiteboard in the company canteen. Ilias decided to take action and developed a series of practical digital tools. Using Python, AI-assisted development tools such as ChatGPT, and advice from specialist online forums, he replaced the whiteboard with a user-friendly application that now runs in real time on a digital display in the canteen. From there, progress accelerated rapidly, creating an unstoppable snowball effect. He automated time registration and built a system capable of generating complex timesheets for temporary employment agencies at the click of a button.
Together with the owner's son, he developed a crate inventory system that provides real-time visibility into the broccoli stored in the cold room. He also created an application that tracks the live location of irrigation reels and monitors rainwear inventory. In addition, all door locks were successfully integrated into a central building automation system.
"As soon as they identify a task that is repetitive or outdated, they immediately asked: what are the possibilities here?" Ilias says with a smile.
Because data security is critical, all solutions run on local servers and are protected by two-factor authentication.
Culture Shock and envious fellow students
For a student with no agricultural background, entering the sector was a genuine culture shock. "I had little understanding of the sector and was mostly familiar with the negative stories often portrayed in the media," he admits.
Once on the farm, however, he was deeply impressed. The scale of the operation, the extensive fleet of tractors and machinery, and the employees' surprisingly advanced technical expertise completely changed his perception. He also enjoyed stepping away from his computer from time to time to help with practical tasks, such as unloading trailers and positioning irrigation equipment.
Back at the university in Eindhoven, the admiration was just as strong, but this time directed at Ilias himself. His fellow students were openly jealous of his experience. While many of them spent their graduation projects working on a small theoretical component of a professor's research, Ilias was out in the field creating a tangible, operational product with real-world impact. Seeing the robot function successfully in practice brought him an enormous sense of satisfaction.
Bridging the gap
Despite the success, Ilias believes a major opportunity is still being missed: there is remarkably little structural collaboration between the agricultural sector and Eindhoven's technology ecosystem.
"Wageningen University has a strong agricultural focus, but its engineering programmes are relatively small, with cohorts of only twenty to thirty students," he explains. "In Eindhoven, on the other hand, there is virtually no connection to agriculture at all."
To help bridge that gap, he has already started discussions with educational programmes about creating more long-term partnerships between universities and farming businesses for Bachelor's projects and internships.
Company co-owner Sabine Verdonk fully supports the initiative and hopes that professors in Eindhoven will become more aware of this success story and the opportunities it demonstrates.
His advice to companies in the sector is straightforward:
"Don't be afraid to let go of old habits and try something new."
Even when existing processes seem to work perfectly well, modern technology can almost always unlock further improvements in efficiency, insight and operational performance.
"You simply have to dare to do it," he concludes. "And perhaps give young talent a chance sooner. I genuinely believe that can make a huge difference."