The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Sector figures say robot has berry good potential
Innovation: Developers say it grips soft fruit with ideal amount of pressure
The launch of a new robot, complete with flexible fingers, has been welcomed by crop researchers and farmers in Scotland as an exciting development with fruit-picking potential, although still not likely to be as good as the human touch.
Called Hank, the new super-sensitive robot, has been developed by global innovation specialists, Cambridge Consultants, who say their invention is equipped to hold and grip delicate objects using just the right amount of pressure.
“Hank could have valuable applications in agriculture, where the ability to pick small, irregular and delicate items has been one of the industry’s ‘grand challenges’,” they said, adding that while other robots tend to require complex grasping algorithms, costly sensing devices and vision sensors, Hank’s soft robotic fingers are controlled by airflows that can flex the finger and apply force as required.”
Definitely interested in the new robot is Professor Derek Stewart, agri-food sector lead at the James Hutton Institute.
He said: “This is an exciting development that has implications across the full food and drink supply chains and particularly for impact-sensitive produce such as strawberries and raspberries.”
NFU Scotland policy manager, Peter Loggie, also saw merit in Hank’s arrival.
He said: “Trained pickers
“Hank could have valuable applications in agriculture”
need to very quickly assess which berries are ready before picking them and often need to move foliage to assess that.
“A robot would also need to be able to move and visually analyse the plants and berries as human pickers do. Traditionally, computer technology has been very poor at pattern recognition, compared with humans, but artificial intelligence is improving all the time.”
Carnoustie grower James Porter, chairman of NFU Scotland’s horticulture committee said: “The reality of balancing the expensive camera technology needed to match up with picking hands and the cost of development for such a machine, means we are unlikely to see it being commercially available any time soon.
“However, if we can put people on the moon, I am sure we could ultimately develop a strawberry harvester, but I think the cost would make it unviable.”
Hank’s developers remain entirely upbeat, however, pointing out that his fingers are flexible, food safe and cleanable and that, as a low-cost consumable, they can simply be replaced if they ever become damaged or worn.