Michigan State researchers and engineers are utilizing technology to address the escalating costs of apple harvesting in Michigan, leveraging a robotic system equipped with suction arms and artificial intelligence. The state, a leading U.S. apple producer, reported a record yield in 2022, with production reaching 1.36 billion pounds, as per USDA data.
The automated picker features dual tubular robotic arms, each ending in a soft suction vacuum. This system, guided by a computer vision, selects, secures, and swiftly picks apples, depositing them into a cushioned container before they are sorted into crates. Despite its apparent simplicity, the development of this robotic harvester has been a multi-year endeavor spearheaded by Zhaojian Li, an engineering professor at Michigan State University, alongside Renfu Lu from the USDA.
The technology aims to offer a solution for the harvesting of specialty crops, which traditionally lacks advanced automation options. Early harvesting methods, such as tree shaking, posed risks of damaging the produce. However, the current innovation seeks to minimize such risks by selectively harvesting 70% to 80% of an orchard's fruit, focusing on orchards with layouts conducive to robotic operation.
One of the primary challenges in the project is refining the robot's perception system to accurately identify and locate fruit amidst natural orchard obstructions like leaves and branches, especially under varying outdoor lighting conditions. The dual-arm system is designed to compensate for some spatial inaccuracies, but difficulties remain with dense clusters of fruit and significant foliage.
The collaborative effort between Michigan State University and the USDA also envisions incorporating in-field sorting capabilities into the harvester, potentially reducing the need for third-party packing and storage services and thereby lowering costs for farmers. This innovation represents a significant step forward in the automation of fruit harvesting, targeting improvements in efficiency and cost-effectiveness in Michigan's apple orchards.
Source: MLive