German engineering firm H8 Automation picked up the Innovation Award for Best Industrial Project at Seville-based Expocáñamo, the Spanish cannabis industry event May 11-13.
The award was granted for H8’s hemp bud stripper, a unique technology that carefully strips flowers, rendering them as if picked by hand.
The first-ever competition was part of a much expanded presence for industrial hemp at Expocáñamo this year; it was judged by a jury of hemp experts, professionals and other stakeholders from Seville and Andalusia.
Designed by H8 CEO Heinrich Wieker, the electrically driven machine is intended to give farmers greater independence from weather conditions during the harvest, and facilitate efficient bud production in countries with high labor costs. It can be used in the field or indoors, and can process about 100kg of flowers per hour.
