{"id":3401,"date":"2026-06-15T11:49:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T11:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/?p=3401"},"modified":"2026-06-15T11:49:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T11:49:37","slug":"from-prototype-to-production-proof-of-concept-how-edic-grant-helped-validate-early-tech-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/no-prototipa-lidz-razosanas-pieradijumam-ka-edic-grants-palidzeja-validet-agri-tech-risinajumu\/","title":{"rendered":"From prototype to production proof \u2013 how EDIC grant helped validate an agri-tech solution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A strategic view on how companies in Latvia can use EU support instruments to overcome the critical stage from a functioning prototype to a market-ready solution. SIA Sistering is a strategic partner in the development phase of an innovative product.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For Em\u012bls Lo\u010dmelis, the owner of ZS \u201cBalsti\u0146as\u201d, one of the most painful jobs is removing stones from the field. As a farmer and engineer, he developed RockBot \u2013 an autonomous electric robot, the goal of which is to independently recognize and collect stones from cultivated areas, reducing dependence on seasonal labor and equipment damage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The path from prototype to product is long and costly. That is why it is valuable to use available co-financing instruments. In this case, it was the European Digital Innovation Center (EDIC) grant \u201cTest before invest\u201d with intensity 100%, within the framework of which the Latvian computer vision developer SIA \u201cApply\u201d was involved. The project investigated a computer vision model that is able to automatically recognize stones on the earth&#039;s surface in real field conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3403 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/aea-robotics_rockbot-300x169.png\" alt=\"Em\u012bls Loc&#039;melis_AEA Robotics. Katr\u012bna Bartkevi\u010da\" width=\"524\" height=\"295\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/aea-robotics_rockbot-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/aea-robotics_rockbot-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/aea-robotics_rockbot-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/aea-robotics_rockbot-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/aea-robotics_rockbot-18x10.png 18w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/aea-robotics_rockbot.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 524px) 100vw, 524px\" \/>Photo:<strong> Prototype of a rock-reading robot<\/strong><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/>\n<\/p>\n<h2><b>About the EDIC POC grant<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The EDIC POC (proof of concept) grant is specifically designed for testing and piloting digital solutions before larger investments. In Latvia, this instrument is administered by the Latvian Information Technology Cluster (LITK).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Main parameters of the grant:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">240 expert hours from an accredited technology partner<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tripartite cooperation between the client, EDIC and the contractor<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Term usually 2\u20133 months<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The payment flow is designed so that the client pays only after the work is completed, and EDIC then repays the principal, which reduces the financial risk for the client.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEveryone has their own job and specialized tasks should be entrusted to professionals. In the field of computer vision in Latvia, it is the Apply SIA team. The cooperation was fast, open and truly professional.\u201d Katr\u012bna Bartkevi\u010da, project manager<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3402 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/akmenu_lasisanas_robots-300x169.png\" alt=\"AEA Robotics stone picking robot\" width=\"556\" height=\"313\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/akmenu_lasisanas_robots-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/akmenu_lasisanas_robots-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/akmenu_lasisanas_robots-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/akmenu_lasisanas_robots-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/akmenu_lasisanas_robots-18x10.png 18w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/akmenu_lasisanas_robots.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 556px) 100vw, 556px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>See the prototype in action!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The project was implemented within the framework of the EDIC POC grant. Decision No. 2.2.1.1.i.0\/23\/I\/CFLA\/001-GLG-6270.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU and the National Development Plan. The European Union is not responsible for the content of the material.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>#ESfunds #Recovery Fund #NextGenerationEU #MakeItReal #InvestEU<\/b><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3404\" src=\"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-15-at-14.43.32-300x124.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"124\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-15-at-14.43.32-300x124.png 300w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-15-at-14.43.32-18x7.png 18w, https:\/\/sistering.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-15-at-14.43.32.png 470w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Strat\u0113\u0123isks skats uz to, k\u0101 uz\u0146\u0113mumi Latvij\u0101 var izmantot ES atbalsta instrumentus, lai p\u0101rvar\u0113tu kritisko posmu no funkcion\u0113jo\u0161a prototipa l\u012bdz tirg\u016b gatavam risin\u0101jumam. SIA Sistering ir strat\u0113\u0123iskais partneris inovat\u012bva produkta izstr\u0101des posm\u0101. ZS &#8220;Balsti\u0146as&#8221; saimniekam Em\u012blam Lo\u010dmelim viens no s\u0101p\u012bg\u0101kajiem darbiem ir akme\u0146u nov\u0101k\u0161ana no lauka. B\u016bdams lauksaimnieks un in\u017eenieris, vi\u0146\u0161 izstr\u0101d\u0101ja RockBot &#8211; autonomu [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jaunumi"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3401"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3407,"href":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3401\/revisions\/3407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sistering.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}