Robots can use machine vision to pick strawberries and can see that they are unfamiliar [Full text]

Science and technology in a greenhouse in Belgium, there is a small robot, it goes through a row of strawberries growing on the tray bracket, using machine vision to find ripe fruit, and then use 3D printed paws to light each fruit Take it lightly and put it in a basket for sale. If it feels that the fruit is not yet picked, the little guy will estimate the time of maturity and pick it again.

This interesting picture is an experiment by the Belgian company Octinion. It believes that this system can replace the traditional strawberry cultivation and harvesting mode. In California, a strict immigration policy coupled with a rich economic environment has reduced the number of immigrant farm workers, and local workers do not want to do such work, which makes it difficult for strawberry growers to find workers to pick fruit. In the United Kingdom, Brexit made the agricultural work less attractive to workers in Eastern Europe, and most of these jobs were previously contracted by them. Today, most developed countries are facing the challenge of a similar shortage of agricultural labor.

“The agricultural labor force is not sustainable at the moment, because the people who work in this kind of work are often migrants. They come from afar and then go home and go home. Or they are some immigrants. They want to start with this, and they will change for the better in the future. Work," said Tom Coen, CEO of Octinion.

The robot developed by Octinion company can pick a strawberry every five seconds, and the speed of human being is slightly faster, picking one every three seconds on average. "We need to be a bit slower, but economically we are profitable because the cost of each fruit is similar," Cohn said.

Octinion started designing the robot based on cost constraints and other requirements for picking strawberries. For example, the stem of a strawberry should not be left on the fruit when it is picked because it will pierce the other strawberries in the basket. When the fruit begins to pack, the redder side should be placed on top to attract consumers. The robot's vision system can accomplish this task.

This robot is designed to work with a "tabletop" growth system, where strawberries grow on a row of trays rather than in the field because this is where the industry is moving. In Europe, greenhouses have become a standard way of growing strawberries, and most of the strawberries produced have been exported to the United States. Major producers such as Driscolls have already begun to shift to tray growth systems because of the height of planting to make it easier for robots or humans to pick. Driscolls has been developing another strawberry picking robot, but it will always cut the strawberry. The Octinion robot will calculate whether it will scratch the strawberry, if not it will not pick. In addition to being easier to pick, the tray growth system is also more water-efficient because the system only needs to water a small amount of soil around the strawberries, and the yield per unit area is higher.

With the continuous improvement of global urbanization, Cohen believes that vertical agricultural systems will inevitably increase, and robots will help the system become more economical. “About 80% of the US-produced strawberries come from California, which means that the strawberries you eat in New York may have been transported on trucks for two days. This is not a good deal either ecologically or economically,” he said.

At present, this robot of Octinion Company is nearly finished to develop, this company is testing it with Belgian research center Research Center of Hoogstraten. By next year, Octinion will begin pilot testing with strawberry picking workers and will be available for sale in 2019. In addition, the company also plans to enrich the skills package of this robot, allowing it to pick peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and other agricultural products. "We hope that any crop that can be grown in the greenhouse will be able to pick it," Cohn said.