Robot-Assisted Autonomous Harvesting of Berries

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An alarming issue the world faces today is inadequate food production to feed the rapid population growth, which is expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050. According to Statistics Canada, the second-most significant fruit crop in Canada in 2020 was cranberries, accounting for 162,243 metric tons, or 18.1%, of the total fruit harvest. Blueberries (148,444 metric tons, 16.5%) and strawberries (24,158 metric tons, 2.8%) come in second and fourth, respectively. The solution to boosting agricultural productivity and generating future food security lies in applying agri-tech and agri-robotics, providing more efficient and reliable processes through Industry 4.0 and smart automation. The labor shortage is one of the main factors that lead to harvest losses. This project addresses that challenge by proposing a robotic system for picking raspberries and blackberries. It consists of two novel parts: an intelligent artificial vision system and a novel gripper designed with sustainable lightweight/soft materials for picking. Artificial intelligence and robotic systems for the agriculture sector have started gaining widespread popularity globally by automating and augmenting various farming tasks. Increasing the deployment of smart technologies in agriculture by utilizing advanced intelligent computer vision algorithms and robotics lets diversify this business into a more sustainable and effective automated sector. The research partners for addressing this challenge are the Automatic Control department at Cinvestav-Guadalajara, the Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing, Design and Automation at the University of Alberta, and the Autonomous Systems Lab at ETH Zurich.