The picture shows the sweet pepper harvesting robot "Sweeper." (provided by Ben Gurion University)
Preliminary test results showed that "Sweeper," an advanced sweet pepper harvesting robot, can harvest ripe fruit in 24 seconds with a success rate of 62 percent, Israeli Ben Gurion University (BGU) reported on Sunday.
The examination was made by using a commercially available crop modified to mimic the required conditions. When the robot is fully developed, it may enable harvesting 24 hours a day.
The robot "Sweeper," was developed in a consortium including BGU researchers, as well as researchers from the U.S., Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands.
It is designed to operate in a single stem row cropping system with non-clustered fruits and little leaf occlusion.
The BGU team spearheaded efforts to improve the robot's ability to detect ripe produce using computer vision and has played a role in defining the specifications of the robot's hardware and software interfaces, focusing on supervisory control activities.
"Sweeper" took center stage in early October at the 2018 IIEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in Madrid, Spain, following a successful demonstration in September at the Research Station for Vegetable Production at St. Katelijne-Waver in Belgium.
The BGU's researchers predict robotic harvesting will revolutionize the economics of the agriculture industry and dramatically reduce food waste.
Based upon the latest results, the Sweeper consortium expects that a commercial sweet pepper harvesting robot will be available within four to five years.
