Startup hopes robots will solve kiwifruit staff shortage

A Christchurch startup is exploring ways to include robots in fruit picking to end seasonal labour shortages.

YieldTec is a young startup business operating out of the Ministry of Awesome’s Te O¯ haka, a startup incubator at the Ara Institute of Canterbury.

The new business is hoping to revolutionise the fruit picking game, specifically kiwifruit, using robots and sophisticated tracking software.

YieldTec’s business plan uses smart fruit bags that send an automated message to mobile robots when they are full, as well as an app to monitor fruit levels.

The mobile robot automatically moves to the bag/picker location when the message is received and the picker can empty the bag into the robot. The robot then takes the fruit to the desired destination for sorting or packing, and then repeats the process when another bag is filled.

YieldTec founder Khaled Salah said his doctoral research on horticulture identified the need to retain a human element.

‘‘When it comes to the actual picking of the fruit, no-one does it better than us, so we want to make it easier for human pickers rather than eliminate them,’’ he said.

‘‘By our calculations, this mix of humans and robots could cut costs in the fruit picking industry by up to 60 per cent.’’

YieldTec co-founder Angus McGregor said being based in Christchurch and at Te Ōhaka had given the startup exclusive access to a variety of helpful connections.

‘‘We’ve had access to accountants, IT experts, business planners and other networks all basically under one roof, which is so, so helpful for us.’’

In March last year, Stuff reported on a world-first robotic apple picker that could curb labour shortages. Te Ōhaka’s startup incubation manager, Jacob Varghese, said the difference between YieldTec’s project and the apple picking robot was in YieldTec’s comprehensive business plan.

‘‘So far they have discovered that humans are important to the picking element, but that may change as research continues,’’ he said.

‘‘Here at Te Ōhaka, we have worked with the boys to establish their market potential, develop connections and give them overall advice from a business standpoint.’’

He was confident in YieldTec’s market potential, he said.

Komodo Monitr, a sport startup that broke into the international market, is the most recent success story to come out of Te Ōhaka and the incubator’s managers are tipping YieldTec to be next.

‘‘This mix of humans and robots could cut costs . . . by up to 60 per cent.’’

Khaled Salah YieldTec founder