Robots from Tevel Aerobotics are now helping to harvest apples in South America. — AFP Relaxnews
More and more robots, powered by artificial intelligence, are helping to automate certain tasks in the agricultural sector. This has recently led to the emergence of solutions for the selective harvesting of quality fruit.
The Israeli startup, Tevel Aerobotics Technologies, has designed robots that can take part in fruit-picking operations. In Chile, on behalf of the Unifrutti group, the machines helped pick several varieties of apple from March to May 2023, systematically selecting the highest-quality fruit.
The aim is for the robot to analyse the quality of the fruit and harvest only those desired. These autonomous flying robots are powered by artificial intelligence algorithms that enable them to delicately pick the ripest fruit. They have the advantage of being able to operate 24 hours a day, replacing an increasingly scarce workforce.
All the data collected can be used to provide precise information on the contents of the various bins filled with apples before they are delivered to the packing plant. This ranges from the quantity of fruit harvested to its weight, ripeness and geolocation.
Ultimately, these machines are capable of harvesting a wide range of fruit, from a 50g apricot to larger fruit like apples, up to 700g, with algorithms to distinguish between fruit, foliage and other items.
However, this solution is not yet fully perfected. For example, it is still difficult for these robots to pick apples when tree branches prevent them from doing so, and this can be the case for up to half the crop.
It's also difficult for them to know whether or not a fruit is infested with worms, which can affect a significant proportion of the crop.
Last but not least, they can't thin the apples, a process which consists in removing excess fruit when it's still young, in order to encourage the best fruit to grow. As a result, manual labour remains indispensable alongside that of the robots.
Other harvesting solutions using intelligent robotic vehicles exist, such as the solution offered by FFRobotics. Once again, this is an alternative to manual harvesting. Its advanced software enables the robot to identify fruit according to criteria pre-set by the grower, so that only the desired fruit is harvested.
In fact, exclusive harvesting of top-quality fruit is up to 10 times faster than with a human. What's more, the machine analyses and provides statistics on the fruit harvested, by tree or by area farmed.
In addition to harvesting, data analysis is also essential for farmers. This is precisely the mission of the Mineral robot, developed by Google, which has been helping many US farmers for several years. It has been designed to optimise harvests and help build a more sustainable and resilient food system. And with the world's population on the rise, the challenge is immense. – AFP Relaxnews
