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Robots that harvest strawberries have been tasked with addressing a labour shortage in the sector. The University of Essex claims that the artificial allies could gather and bundle the fruits "in a matter of seconds" A £1.02 million grant from the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs was used to finance the project.Robots that harvest strawberries have been tasked with addressing a labour shortage in the sector. The University of Essex claims that the artificial allies could gather and bundle the fruits “in a matter of seconds”.
Researchers at Wilkin & Sons, a jam manufacturer located in Tiptree, are testing prototypes that are only £10,000, a small portion of the £150,000 cost of the current robots. “Robotics is a game changer to tackle some of the critical challenges facing us – food security, labour security, climate and energy,” stated Dr. Vishwanathan Mohan.
The gadget can pick a strawberry with a robotic arm in 2.5 seconds, weigh it, and package it. Onion, tomato, and lettuce harvesting trials are also planned, according to the institution, which also stated that it could be readily extended to other crops. Together with Professor Klaus McDonald-Maier, Dr. Mohan of Essex’s School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering created and constructed the robot.
“Through this project we want to transform how food is grown efficiently using robotics and AI, and make state-of-the-art agri-robotics technologies accessible to everyone,”. “Even if smaller farms and businesses can afford a robot, you need a whole fleet of them to make a difference, so it’s vital we find cost-effective alternatives to help the agricultural industry with labour shortages.” stated Dr. Mohan.
Extremely intricate
A £1.02 million grant from the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs was used to finance the project. It was envisaged that the plan would increase the items’ shelf life while lessening the labour-intensive, repetitive operation of crop-picking.
It was assisting in addressing “the most significant challenge” facing the sector, according to Chris Newenham, a director of Wilkin & Sons. “These challenges are inordinately complex and take time, it is work which is definitely not for the faint-hearted,” he stated. “But we are confident that we are working with the very best partners and very much looking forward to seeing the fruits of our collective labours over the coming years.”
