A robot that picks ripe strawberries as the farmer sleeps was unveiled in Japan on Wednesday, with its developer saying it could cut workloads by two-thirds.
The device, which can gather a piece of fruit every eight seconds, uses three cameras to determine which strawberries are ready to pick before darting out an arm and snipping them into its basket. The 2m robot moves on rails between rows of strawberries, which are usually grown in elevated planters in greenhouses in Japan.
It "calculates the degree of ripeness from the colour of the strawberry, which it observes with two digital cameras", said Mitsutaka Kurita, an official of Shibuya Seiki, which developed the machine. "It also uses the images from the two cameras to calculate the distance from the target, then approaches the strawberry it is aiming at," he said.
A third camera then takes a detailed picture of the fruit, which it uses for the final calculation before moving in for the snip.
Strawberry farming is highly labour intensive, requiring 70 times the input that growing rice requires and twice that of tomatoes and cucumbers, said a statement from co-developer the National Agriculture and Food Research Organisation. "This robot would harvest two-thirds of strawberries during the night when growers are sleeping," Mr Kurita said. "The farmer can then pick the rest of the strawberries that the robot couldn’t get at," he said.
The robot will be on sale early next year for about ¥5m ($50,000).
Source: bdlive.co.za
Announcements
Vacancies
- Head Grower – High Technology Organic Greenhouse
- Import and Export Sales Manager
- Sales Manager - US
- Grower | Cannabis
- Key Account Manager (f/m/d) - Full-time
- Vice President of Growing Operations
- Account Manager - Canada
- Account Manager - United States
- Procurement Manager Blueberries
- International Fruit Trader
could cut workloads by two-thirds:
Robot for picking greenhouse strawberries unveiled in Japan
Publication date:
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2023-11-28 New cling film technology provides certified recyclable alternative to PVC films
- 2023-11-27 Europe wants to save the planet, but its share of plastic pollution is only 5 percent
- 2023-11-23 New solution adds value and ease to machine-harvested blueberries
- 2023-11-22 "There will be no regression to classic plastic packaging"
- 2023-11-20 What will the war on plastic cost the fresh produce industry?
- 2023-11-14 A smart solution for packing small fruits and mushrooms
- 2023-11-14 Plug plant and seed tray packs ensure safe seed deliveries
- 2023-11-13 More and more innovations in advanced packaging
- 2023-11-07 WPTC European tomato production update
- 2023-11-07 Compostable packaging: keeping produce fresh and sustainable
- 2023-11-06 "In the end, rising freight costs lead to higher offer prices in retail"
- 2023-11-02 "Cold chain temperature monitoring maximizes shelf-life and reduces food waste"
- 2023-11-02 Dutch branch Celtic Refrigeration has bankruptcy declared - talks on restart ongoing
- 2023-11-01 Corrugated packaging gets smarter and greener
- 2023-11-01 "With the press of a button, from 200g iceberg lettuce to 600g spinach"
- 2023-10-16 New bundling machine unveiled at Fruit Attraction
