Berry-picking robots could replace people

♦♦niversity of Essex scientists are developing a robot to replace human strawberry pickers.

Estimates suggest that 20 per cent of soft fruits are not being picked across the country because farms are struggling to find workers.

Experts believe that this will worsen further when Britain leaves the EU, which has led to farms looking for alternate solutions to harvest crops.

Dr Vishuu Mohan, a computer science and engineering lecturer who is leading the project, said: “The challenge is that no two berries are the same – they come in different shapes, sizes, order of ripeness, and many are hidden in the foliage.”

“Dexterous manipulation in unstructured environments is a big challenge for robotics”.

A prototype of the robot is expected to be ready within a few months.