Robotic Courgette Harvester

机器人西葫芦收割机

• 批准号: 10026029
• 金额: $ 32.04万
• 依托单位: MUDDY MACHINES LTD
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10026029
• 关键词: Robotic; Courgette; Harvester

**Growers' ability to obtain the large seasonal (75,000 strong)(5) workforce to harvest field vegetables has been severely impacted by Covid-19, Brexit and declining migrant worker availability across Europe(10).****Domestic labour ('Pick for Britain') cannot replace the need(11). As price takers with low margins, growers cannot profitably offer higher wages(12).****This has become a national crisis that threatens the UK food system's resilience more than any other single challenge(60).**"Unprecedented labour shortages have left hundreds of tonnes of produce rotting in the fields" Financial Times (57,22)'Labour availability is very tight [...] we could have done extra volume [with more workers]' (George Read, Staples Vegetables UK)'If we can't get enough people, ...we don't have a business! [...] Imports carry a higher carbon footprint and we cannot fully control provenance and growing practices.' (John Chinn, Cobrey Farms)'Labour shortage for harvesting is our greatest current concern, forcing us to significantly reduce our future cultivation of crops like courgettes. Harvest automation is the only viable solution for our profitability, keep operating in England, and **2025 Net Zero aims(14)** ''. Barfoots of Botley, major UK Courgette grower.A narrowing wage gap between Eastern Europe and the UK (BBC Farming today 26.10.2021: Monthly labour costs in Romania have tripled from £300 to £1000); **Covid-19** and Brexit have changed labour **market dynamics**, with a 30% **shortfall in 2020(13) resulting in wasted crops.****The Association of Labour Providers: 'staff shortages in the food supply chain are unprecedented, bleak, and ongoing. 99% of labour providers couldn't meet needs for workers in the last 3 months, and 75% will not be able to meet demand in the run-up to Christmas'.** (61)This project is an important step on MM's journey to develop a completely novel class of agricultural machine that can reliably replace manual labour to address the needs of UK growers. MM already has built and successfully field-tested an autonomous asparagus harvest robot whose platform can be used in this project. Courgettes present more complex challenges for imaging, software and in particular the gripping mechanism which will need to twist the courgettes off the plant rather than cut at ground level.

** 种植者获得大量季节性（75，000强）劳动力来收获田间蔬菜的能力受到Covid-19，Brexit和欧洲各地移民工人可用性下降的严重影响（10）。家庭劳动力（“为英国挑选”）不能取代需求（11）。作为利润率低的价格接受者，种植者不能提供更高的工资（12）。这已经成为一场全国性的危机，威胁英国食品系统的弹性超过任何其他单一的挑战（60）。“前所未有的劳动力短缺导致数百吨农产品在田地里腐烂”《金融时报》（57，22）我们本可以[用更多的工人]生产更多的量的“（乔治里德，斯台普斯蔬菜英国公司）”如果我们找不到足够的人，...我们没有生意！[...]进口产品的碳足迹更高，我们无法完全控制来源和种植方式。（约翰·钦恩，科布里农场）“收割的劳动力短缺是我们目前最大的担忧，迫使我们大大减少未来像西葫芦这样的作物的种植。收获自动化是唯一可行的解决方案，我们的盈利能力，保持在英国的经营，和 **2025年净零目标（14）**“。东欧和英国之间的工资差距缩小（BBC农业今天26.10.2021：罗马尼亚的每月劳动力成本从300英镑增加到1000英镑，增加了两倍）; **Covid-19** 和Brexit改变了劳动力 ** 市场动态 **，2020年30% ** 短缺导致作物浪费。劳工供应商协会：“食品供应链中的员工短缺是前所未有的，黯淡的，持续的。99%的劳动力供应商在过去3个月内无法满足对工人的需求，75%的劳动力供应商将无法满足圣诞节前的需求。（61）该项目是MM开发全新农业机械的重要一步，该机械可以可靠地取代体力劳动，以满足英国种植者的需求。MM已经建造并成功地进行了现场测试，自主芦笋收获机器人的平台可以用于该项目。小胡瓜对成像、软件，特别是夹持机构提出了更复杂的挑战，夹持机构需要将小胡瓜从植物上拧下来，而不是在地面上切割。