February 2019 - 5

AUTOMATION
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advancement and also the cost), the use
of robotic/automated picker for fruit
harvesting would be possible, " Long
said. He broke it down to parts: " For a
robotic picker, fruit accessibility in the
tree canopy, a machine vision system for
fruit detection and a robotic actuator
for fruit picking would be three major
components. "
While the Cyclone so far doesn't
have the robotic or machine vision
components, the rest of the vision is
functioning. The DBR suction unit sells
for $45,000, and with an Automated Ag
platform to put it on, the total cost is
around $100,000 or more. The selfpropelled
platforms pick up apple bins,
gently and gradually fill them and then
set the filled bins on the ground in the
orchard row.
" What's unique about my system is the
bins pass through it, " Dagorret said.
He's already sold a few Cyclones,
and anticipates building 10 more in
2019, even as he seeks to audition
robotic pickers.
" We still use people right now, " he said.
The Cyclone's automation, as far as it goes,
still shows value: Workers don't have to
shoulder and repeatedly empty heavy
canvas bags full of apples. And they aren't
climbing up and down ladders.
" It's safer, too, " Dagorret said. " It takes a
lot of the work out of it. It's quite a bit faster. "
Meanwhile, robotics technology
continues to advance.
FFRobotics
An Israeli company, FFRobotics, has
developed a complete robotic harvester.
" The harvester is automated by (a)
dedicated vision system, operating
system and robotic system, " said Gad
Kober co-founder and vice president of
business development of FFRobotics.
The self-propelled platform has 12
robotic arms, six on each side. It enters a
row, stands in front of trees (one or two
on each side), takes a picture, identifies
the location of the fruits on the trees and
determines color and size (grower's preset
criteria) of each fruit to be picked/left
on the tree. " The automatic system then
sends arms to pick the fruit and lays it on
a conveyor belt to the apple bin.
" No human touch at all, " Kober wrote
in an email. One human supervisor
monitors the machine's overall activity
and directs it to the entrance of each row.
The last two years' tests have been
conducted in the largest apple orchards
in Israel, he said. Final 2019 season tests
will take place simultaneously in Israel,
Canada, Washington state, elsewhere in
the U.S., and France/Italy.
" We will have a few harvesters
available for early adopters by the
beginning of the 2019 harvesting
season, " Kober said. " Serial production
(is) expected to begin by 2020. "
He said one of the difficulties has been
convincing growers the hardware is
worth the investment.
" Taking into account that the harvester
replaces between 20-25 pickers per day,
and a harvesting season of (about) 80
days, it would appear that one harvester
would be justified to pick fruits in an
orchard size of 125 acres, " he said. " With
diminishing availability of human
laborers, which is now becoming more
and more evident around the world, a
grower will eventually have to decide
whether to adopt automated pickers or
abandon his profession altogether. "
Abundant Robotics
Abundant Robotics, based in
Hayward, California, also is working on a
robotically automated apple harvester.
" It's a complete system analogous
to a combine for orchards, " said CEO
Dan Steere.
See AUTOMATION, page 6
Renfu Lu, a USDA-ARS researcher based at Michigan State University, is working on
improving this harvest-assist system. Photo: Gary Pullano
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2019