Apple and Peach Picking Robot

[esmith]

Engineering professor Duke Bulanon and his students a Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa ID have developed a orchard robot (OrBot) to assist with harvesting fruit. The robot was developed to supplement human labor in picking fruit; it is capable of working 24 hours a day. It will be tested in the upcoming 2021 harvest at two of Idaho's largest commercial orchards for harvesting apples and peaches.

 

[ChristineM]

Engineering professor Duke Bulanon and his students a Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa ID have developed a orchard robot (OrBot) to assist with harvesting fruit. The robot was developed to supplement human labor in picking fruit; it is capable of working 24 hours a day. It will be tested in the upcoming 2021 harvest at two of Idaho's largest commercial orchards for harvesting apples and peaches.

I see a good market for it picking apples in the UK. There are very few farm laborers/fruit pickers left there, they have all gone home to Eastern Europe because of brexit.

 

[Vinayaka]

The nature of the orchards has changed for higher productivity by modernization. New apple orchards are no longer treated as trees, but more like grape vines. It's increased production by acre by some 30%. The trees are trained on A-Frames and kept low. The workers have far less climbing, and can walk along on the ground. I'm guessing this technique has enabled the building of robots.

The Modern Apple Orchard: What Does It Entail? | Agriculture Climate Network

 

[Revoltingest]

Engineering professor Duke Bulanon and his students a Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa ID have developed a orchard robot (OrBot) to assist with harvesting fruit. The robot was developed to supplement human labor in picking fruit; it is capable of working 24 hours a day. It will be tested in the upcoming 2021 harvest at two of Idaho's largest commercial orchards for harvesting apples and peaches.

It's the way of the future.
Years ago I met an almond farmer who found migrant
labor getting so spendy that he automated his farm to
the extent that he & his family hire no workers anymore.

 

[Vinayaka]

It's the way of the future.
Years ago I met an almond farmer who found migrant
labor getting so spendy that he automated his farm to
the extent that he & his family hire no workers anymore.

Innovation in agriculture is rather amazing, in a lot of ways. Greenhouses are amazing in what they can do, including water preservation. A local Hutterite colony here, although they're sort of know like the Amish for keeping some traditional ways, has an organic greenhouse that operates year round in this climate. The specialise in long English cukes, tomatoes, and peppers. My monk friends in Hawaii play around with an automated greenhouse as well.