About

Ascension Automation Solutions is a leading provider of industrial automation, robotics programming, and production system design with operations in Cambridge, Ontario, and Lansing, Michigan. The company develops and integrates custom automation solutions for a variety of industries, ensuring efficiency, precision, and scalability in manufacturing processes. Ascension is actively supporting operations and project launches for some of the largest automotive manufacturers in North America. Ascension’s automated TOV (Tomatoes-On-The-Vine) sorting system integrates a conveyor, a COBOT, and AI-powered machine vision to efficiently process harvested TOVs while minimizing waste.

Project

Although much of the underlying technology has been developed, the TOV sorting system requires further refinement prior to launching.  Through the Development and Commercialization Program, Ascension will look to access the Vineland TDS to further develop their solution.  Ascension will be working on various aspects of the TOV solution including refining of AI models, integration of a multi-camera vision system to feed the AI models and refinements to the robotic systems operations.  Testing on live tomato vines as well as deep industry knowledge will greatly accelerate Ascension’s commercialization of their solution.

Impact

At the completion of the project, Ascension will have a completely validated and tested prototype system which can then be deployed at selected greenhouses to address any further needed enhancements. Initial sales are expected to generate approximately $32 million in new revenue within 3 years and Ascension expects to create 85 new full-time jobs in Ontario over the same period.  Additionally, the system will reduce manual labor needs while improving throughput, consistency, and traceability allowing greenhouses to benefit from lower costs and higher operational efficiency.