A robot is now as good as humans at harvesting berries – and never needs to stop for a loo break.
You may not have heard of them, but they are already in use commercially in the UK, and could even have picked part of your Christmas dinner.
The tech is developing so quickly that ‘the robotic future will soon be upon us’.
Duncan Robertson, the chief executive of Dogtooth, said the latest model of his robot is the world’s first to equal the productivity of a person.
The robot, which looks like something out of Star Wars, can work 24/7 as it can see in the dark using computer vision and AI to identify ripe berries.
It does not grab the fruit itself to pluck it, but snips the stalk, meaning the berry is at lower risk of bruising and of cross-contamination from mildew and fungus.
Quality control is also automated, so bad berries are discarded immediately while the good ones can be refrigerated and go straight to supermarkets.
Dr Robertson told Metro the tech could solve a major problem of labour shortages facing UK farmers, which is so acute that fruit has at times been left to rot in fields.
Farmers have typically relied on migrant workers to do low-paid and physically challenging fruit picking, but Brexit and the pandemic made recruiting people more difficult.
‘It’s creating a sustainability crisis for the industry. Costs are increasing dramatically, but it’s not really the case that supermarkets are willing to pay more,’ Dr Robertson said.
It has previously been challenging to automate dexterous tasks like picking fruit and vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, apples and raspberries, but this could be about to change.
Seventy robots are already in use commercially on UK farms.
The latest model is even more efficient, as it can pick eight berries a minute. Although this is half what a human can do, it can pick for twice as long as it only needs breaks to recharge after 24 hours, so can pick 200kg of strawberries a day.
Information about the crop is uploaded to a web portal giving ‘complete control of your robot fleet,’ the Kent company assures growers.
Running on tracks and working both outdoors and in glasshouses, it is expected to go on sale for around £30,000, and will be the first model that growers can buy and use themselves, the company said.
‘It’s an exciting world first from our perspective, as a relatively small technology business that has put a lot of years of effort into the development,’ Dr Robertson said.
He said the robot would soon pay for itself, and would be eligible for a government subsidy from Defra for productivity enhancing investment.
Among early adopters is James Dyson, whose farm in Lincolnshire harvests British strawberries no matter the season using robots and renewable energy.
Strawberries picked using Dogtooth’s tech in December were set to make their way to UK households in time for Christmas.
While not everyone will welcome the potential replacement of human pickers with robots, farming has been revolutionised by new technology throughout its history.
Dogtooth was awarded third place in the inaugural Future of Food competition in London earlier this year, which looked for entrepreneurs innovating in the sector.
The competition’s creator, Barney Mauleverer, said: ‘The mega trends of the future – rising sea levels, shifting populations, threats to our economy, farming and climate, even space tourism – are undeniable. But the food industry has a unique opportunity to lead the charge in solving these seismic shifts and crises.
‘All our finalists have the potential to be game-changers. We cannot wait to see where they, and our winners, go from here.’
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