The global population stood at 7.8 billion in 2021. In addition, the global population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations (UN). Thus, with the growing population, the challenges for the agriculture sector will continue to increase. However, the advent of smart agriculture and efficient technologies like harvesting robots are forecast to help farmers overcome these challenges.
Technologies like cloud computing, robotics, big data, drones, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are gaining significant traction across all industrial verticals. The use of these technologies is forecast to bring a positive change in the near future. Robots are attributed to changing the outlook of the agricultural sector by offering better outcomes with high precision. The rising trend of smart agriculture is expected to be a new normal in the coming years. It is attributed to the ever-increasing world population and declining number of farmers all across the globe.
Here are the ways how harvesting robots can contribute to the growth of the agriculture sector:
Low cost and time efficiency
Harvesting robots are cost-efficient for long-term use. It reduced the cost of labor by performing equally efficient tasks. Thus, the demand for harvesting robots is forecast to increase in the coming years. In addition, the low wages have forced the laborers to switch occupations. Harvesting robots can perform continuously for days without long human intervention.
In 2019, the world’s first raspberry picking robot was developed in the UK. The robot was designed with 4 flexible multi-armed captures, which can perform simultaneously, as instructed by cameras and sensors. The robot is projected to pick nearly 25,000 pieces of delicate fruit per day, which eliminates the need for a human fruit picker.
Ripened or Unripened? Harvesting Robots can detect it for you:
It is difficult to detect the perfectly ripened fruits through human efforts. This is where harvesting robots can fit in. Farmers can protect their fruit and detect when fruits are ready to be sold through harvesting robots. For the same purpose, T&G Global is working with robotics researchers at Abundant Robotics in California to develop the world’s first commercial robotic apple harvesting system. The robotic system is expected to efficiently notice ripe apples through soft-touch robotics and the Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) remote sensing technology. Moreover, it leaves out unripe fruits during the harvesting process, which reduces the chances of mistakes.
Another technology Harvest Quality Vision (HQV), also enables growers to scan a bin of beets, kiwis, apples, mangoes, avocados, lemons, peaches, pears, tomatoes, and oranges through an attached camera. HQV also examines the samples and determines the size, profile, quantity, and color of fruits.
Labor Shortage:
The world population is rising steeply and so are the food demands. However, the declining rate of farmers poses a significant challenge in meeting the world’s demand. Global food production is forecast to reduce by nearly 20% by 2050, according to researchers at the University of Bonn. Such estimation raises a substantial need to include automation in agricultural practices.
T&G Global recently made headlines as the firm announced to recruit nearly 150 permanent staff members to help meet global demand. This initiative aims to build and grow their premium Envy and Jazz apple brands and meet global demand. The company witnessed significant loss due to the unavailability of a skilled workforce. Thus, all of these factors depict the exponential need to develop efficient technology.
Panasonic unveiled its AI-equipped tomato harvesting robots in 2018. This autonomous tomato picker is embedded with the camera, range image sensor, and artificial intelligence technologies. The device primarily recognizes the tomatoes that are ready to be picked. After that, it performs its cut-and-catch technique to transfer tomato from vine to bucket. The company aimed at fulfilling the gap caused by labor shortage through this technology.
To fulfill the growing demands of food, Vision Robotics Corporation (VRC) also developed a uniquely robust harvesting system. This harvesting system contains multiple autonomous robotic solutions that work as a team. One robot maps the farm area through its vision-based mapping and collects the data related to the location and size of each orange. Meanwhile, the second robot harvest oranges with its unique eight arms as directed by the first robots. Thus, such innovations are expected to help the agriculture industry overcome the challenges of labor shortages.
Low Chances of Contamination:
Picking crops require lots of tricks and technique. The vegetable or fruits must be accurately ripened for proper use. In addition, the process requires manual dexterity and a delicate touch. Many fruits discolor easily due to exposure to excess heat. For the same reason, leafy vegetables are easily torn. Thus, harvesting robots can fit in here to reduce the chances of food contamination.
Dogtooth Technologies earlier developed a robotic arm that is capable of harvesting sensitive picking fruits like strawberries with high precision and safety. The robot uses machine vision and motion planning algorithms in order to detect ripe fruits.
Growing Investments in Harvesting Robots Technology:
Investments in the industry are growing at an exponential rate. For instance, in February 2020, Kubota invested in Abundant Robotics with the aim to contribute to labor-saving and efficiency improvement in farming.
In 2020, Teboza and Martens signed an agreement to buy a Cerescon asparagus harvesting robot. In addition, in march 2021, Teboza and Martens Asperges received the first delivery of the Starter.
The robot harvesting manufacturers are forecast to witness a surge in the demand for harvesting robots. According to Astute Analytica, the global harvesting robot market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2030.
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