The SoftGrip consortium was present at this year’s international Mushroom Days 2023 (De Champignondagen) at the Brabanthallen in 's-Hertogenbosch for a three-day (10-12 May) celebration, the largest one in the edible mushroom industry worldwide. 36 years since the first edition, the tri-annual event hosted more than 100 exhibitors and opened its doors to more than 4,000 visitors from 83 countries.

All project partners (Teagasc, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, TWI Hellas, University of Essex, Mitsui Chemicals, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems) contributed to the preparation of the promotional material, from posters, videos, and leaflets to bookmarks and notepads. The project was part of the “Science Island”, where ongoing research was presented by prestigious institutions with a strong history in mushroom research like Penn State University, Wageningen University and our partner Teagasc. Such an occasion was ideal for meeting essential players in the mushroom industry to showcase and discuss the different parts of the SoftGrip project (the machine vision system,  the gripper, the low-cost, recyclable and self-healing materials, the machine learning algorithms and the intrinsic sensing of the gripper) as well as pinpoint the innovations that could drive the mushroom production sector forward.

So, throughout the exhibition days, the SoftGrip representatives had the opportunity to dive into the problems of the industry, the solutions needed for a much-needed change to come, as well as the technologies that could lead there. Through discussions with mushroom growers, mushroom suppliers, technology companies and experienced mushroom researchers, the feedback gathered was immensely valuable. Additionally, mushroom growers who visited the SoftGrip stand agreed to fill in a survey prepared by the consortium specifically for the event to help us progress with our work and plan future commercial and research aspirations. The survey sought to understand the problems, increasing costs and willingness to implement technology in their mushroom farming businesses. Its results will soon be publicly shared by the SoftGrip consortium.