Two Perth-based engineers have developed a strawberry-picking robot that could be the key to tackling on-farm labor shortages. The robot was designed to be of a similar size to a person, so it could be a direct replacement for human workers due to the current labor shortages in the agriculture industry.
Mark Brims is the director of BSC Electronics in Perth and the lead engineer behind the prototype. Mr. Brims said it was difficult to determine how many people the robot could replace because there were many variables to consider.
The robot uses an in-built 3D color camera to locate a strawberry, discern the level of ripeness, and pick it. It also has an in-built GPS so a course can be plotted on the farm, with a drop-off point set so the robot can take the tray of picked fruit back to the shed automatically.
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