An entire orchard can be "cleaned" in a short time by several drones coordinated by a single "autonomous digital brain" positioned on a ground unit.
Picking fruit is a physically laborious activity that can require great effort, sometimes in harsh weather conditions, for over eight hours a day.
While it may have its good times, it's generally a low-paying, seasonal, repetitive job that offers little chance of a career. Not to mention the many complaints of exploitation of workers, often migrants, subjected to grueling shifts under a scorching sun.
The flying robot to collect fruit
The pandemic has exacerbated this situation due to travel restrictions that prevent seasonal workers from crossing borders to pick fruit where needed. And that's why robots that can manage crops are gaining ground.
Tevel Aerobotics Technologies He developed an autonomous flying robot (FAR) which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and harvest fruit.
The company says its autonomous flying robot pickers, which can be used anywhere, can meet this labor need at a lower cost, making it easier to manage an entire orchard.
FAR uses AI perception algorithms to locate trees and vision algorithms to detect fruit among the foliage. If there is fruit to be picked, timing is crucial since. Fruit harvested two weeks late loses 80% of its value. The robot collects only ripe fruit, classifying its size and ripeness, effectively dealing with this task.
After choosing the fruit, the robot finds the best way to approach it and uses its arm to grab it.
A flock in the branches
Multiple robots can work together and clear an entire orchard without crashing into each other. Thanks to artificial intelligence, which coordinates all operations from a single autonomous digital brain located on a ground unit. Of course they can work around the clock.
Needless to say, this new robotic "specialization" raises the age-old issue of human unemployment caused by robotics.
The company says (does it?) that its robots won't replace the human workers currently employed to pick fruit, but they are designed to help them.
