Researchers from Tknika, a regional government research center, and the Eurecat technology center joined forces to design a robot that combines artificial intelligence and visual technology to harvest delicate fruits such as strawberries. The robot was presented at the Expo AgriTech 2024, a horticultural technology fair held in Malaga from November 26 to 28.
The robot, developed within the framework of the HarvBot project (HARVesting coBOT), is equipped with artificial vision and intelligence technologies to detect the fruit and has a data monitoring system to monitor the state of the crop and the harvesting process.
"The robot also has new 3D printed components and algorithms to detect and manipulate the fruit," stated Óscar Palacín, a researcher at Eurecat's Robotics and Automation Department. "The technology has so far been tested on strawberries, but it can be adapted for other crops such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and stone fruit," he said.
The system was validated in a strawberry hydroponic crop at Tknika's facilities, in Errenteria (Gipuzkoa), as a pilot project for the Enkitek company.
"The core of this project is that the software is independent of the hardware used. This makes it possible to use the growing range of affordable robots and create scalable business models," stated Víctor Canton Ferrer, CEO and co-founder of Enkitek.
"The results so far have been a great success," stated Pili Alonso, Director of Tknika. "These projects encourage and promote training and competitiveness within the sector of knowledge transfer in applied innovation," she added.
The HarvBot project has been implemented with the support of ACCIÓ, the Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Generalitat de Catalunya, within the framework of Catalonia's Digital Innovation Hub.
Robots like these respond to the horticultural sector's growing demand to optimize labor-intensive processes, especially due to labor shortages. This technology also allows the creation of a crop monitoring database to improve crop management and to be more sustainable and resilient to climate change.
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