Artificial intelligence moves to the next level. Japanese researchers developed a robot which can automatically identify and pick ripe strawberries from the field. The machine developed by the Institute of Agricultural Machinery’s Bio-Oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution also known as the IAM-BRAIN will be able to harvest about 60 percent of a strawberry crop.
A 1,000 square meter field can be harvested in 300 hours with each machine taking nine seconds to pick a strawberry. The good thing is that the machine can be used at night as well. It obtains the 3D image of the strawberry using a stereo camera. The machine picks up the berry if it is at a minimum 80 percent red. The various image processing algorithms are used to measure this feature.
Experimental prototypes of the machine have been given to the Japanese farmers to test it and the evaluation period is expected to be over by the end of the year. The harvesting does not limit to strawberries alone, but the commercial version is expected to be used for tomato harvesting too. The challenge to these machines is in cases where the fruit does not change its color while ripening.
The machine has also bagged the excellence prize at the annual Robot Awards which was sponsored by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Other winners of the event include the product from Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) called the HRP-4C which is a winsome fembot. BRAIN’s robots aims at reducing the labor involved in the harvest.
A 1,000 square meter field can be harvested in 300 hours with each machine taking nine seconds to pick a strawberry. The good thing is that the machine can be used at night as well. It obtains the 3D image of the strawberry using a stereo camera. The machine picks up the berry if it is at a minimum 80 percent red. The various image processing algorithms are used to measure this feature.
Experimental prototypes of the machine have been given to the Japanese farmers to test it and the evaluation period is expected to be over by the end of the year. The harvesting does not limit to strawberries alone, but the commercial version is expected to be used for tomato harvesting too. The challenge to these machines is in cases where the fruit does not change its color while ripening.
The machine has also bagged the excellence prize at the annual Robot Awards which was sponsored by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Other winners of the event include the product from Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) called the HRP-4C which is a winsome fembot. BRAIN’s robots aims at reducing the labor involved in the harvest.
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