From the Wall Street Journal, January 29:
Researchers are developing robots that promise to automate a process that has always relied on human workers—and bees
Apple orchards are largely untouched by automation. But that could be changing.
Recent breakthroughs in robotics and artificial intelligence could enable robots to do much of the work that orchards require, potentially transforming how apples get to a fruit bowl near you.
A number of universities and startups are developing specialized robots for each stage of apple production, from pollinating the trees to fertilizing them, pruning them and harvesting the fruit.The push for automation comes as orchards face rising labor costs, and as they’re evolving in a way that would mesh well with robot apple pickers. Modern growing techniques train trees into narrow, rectangular shapes of limited height—rather than the natural big, bushy shape with a rounded canopy—making it easier to reach the fruit.
Here’s how robots are potentially revolutionizing the orchard, step by step.
Pollinating
Researchers have developed robotic pollinators to help where there are no local bees to do the job. Orchards where bees are lacking currently pay to have them brought in from elsewhere.The robots use cameras to identify apple blossoms. When they spot a target, a mechanical arm moves in close and releases a precise burst of pollen through a nozzle. Early results are promising. In tests conducted by researchers at Washington State University, 84% of targeted flowers were pollinated.
Researchers envision using these systems to strategically pollinate flowers in the most accessible locations on trees at the optimal time. This could help improve robotic harvesting by ensuring fruit grows where machines can best reach it.
Pollinating only certain flowers this way would also limit the number of apples a tree produces, resulting in better-quality fruit. Orchard workers currently achieve this by thinning a tree’s fruit manually....
....MUCH MORE
Perhaps, somehow, by the Grace of God, avoiding the horribly divisive issue already threatening the blueberry business:
CNN guest says women won’t have berries for smoothies if illegal immigrants are deported
And who will pick our cotton if Lincoln is successful?
