Sweeper the robot takes 24 seconds to pick a single pepper. However, researchers point out that they have slowed the robot's movements on purpose for safety reasons.
Even at this relatively slow pace, the robot is far from accurate with only 61 percent accuracy in picking the fruit. The Sweeper is fitted with LED lights so that it can pick no matter what time of day it is. It can work about 20 hours per day.
There is a shortage of farm labor in many areas
A recent California report notes: " Farmers in every growing region of California continue to report difficulty hiring enough employees to work in a variety of agricultural occupations—including planting, cultivating and harvesting food and other crops—according to a survey conducted by the California Farm Bureau Federation. The survey, conducted during summer 2017, showed that 55 percent of responding farmers had experienced employee shortages. Of those farmers who hire employees on a seasonal basis, 69 percent reported shortages of varying degrees. Problems have been more acute among farmers whose crops require the most intensive hand labor, such as tree fruits and grapes." Robots may eventually be used to supplement or even replace some this labor.
Robots are being used to pick other crops
Robots are being tested for picking other crops such as strawberries. Agrobot has a robot that can pick strawberries as described on their website., Green Robot Machinery has a robot that picks cotton and is developing other machines for picking other crops: "Green Robot Machinery Private Limited is a Farm Robotics Company focusing on machines, which assist humans in improving their productivity and minimize the drudgery in farm operations. The machines will help in improving the farm income and also make farming sustainable and eco friendly without the need to change the agronomic practices currently followed. GRoboMac is developing smart machines for harvesting cotton and horticulture crops like egg plant, okra and capsicum. Technology such as 3D machine vision and Robotics is used to make these machines smart and automate some of the tasks done by humans. The machines can be customized to do other labor demanding tasks like weeding, pruning and spraying. The Cotton Harvesting machine has been field tested and would be available commercially by June 2019."
Metromotion an Israeli startup is doing research on a tomato-picking robot.
The agricultural robot industry is expanding quickly
According to Market Research Engine the agricultural robotics area is expected to be worth $75 billion by only 2025. Those who made Sweeper hope that eventually Sweeper will not only help reduce the farm labor shortage but also reduce the amount of food spoilage. However, the robot still needs work and a commercial version is not expected to be ready for three to five years.
Previously published in Digital Journal
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