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Robotic Picker Harvests Apple Orchards
Advanced Farm Technologies, Inc., a California-based robotics company, is building on the success of its robotic strawberry pickers by introducing its machines to the apple-picking industry.
“Our mission to automate the toughest tasks in farming now extends to tree fruit with our robotic apple harvester,” says a
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Robotic Picker Harvests Apple Orchards MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous Advanced Farm Technologies Inc a California-based robotics company is building on the success of its robotic strawberry pickers by introducing its machines to the apple-picking industry “Our mission to automate the toughest tasks in farming now extends to tree fruit with our robotic apple harvester ” says an Advanced Farm promotional release “By reusing the majority of our custom technology from how we harvest strawberries we’ve gained a lot of momentum after just one season ” The company is conducting field tests on Central Washington apple farms using their modified machine The 14-ft tall robot is built to fit within current orchard operations harvesting rows 9 to 12 ft wide A hybrid electric drive system powers the fuel-efficient lightweight robot which avoids contact with trees branches and other objects A central computer controls the motions of six robotic arms and runs the robotic apple harvester Suction cups are fixed to each arm to eliminate bruising the produce Cameras locate and assess apples for ripeness and size before an arm is extended to pick the fruit Advanced Farm Systems Engineering Manager Michael Corsetto says “The arm can go in and out side to side plus twist up and down When it sees an apple it wants it’ll go into the canopy pick it with the suction cup and then return ” Picked apples are placed into a conveyor system for a human to clip the stems Human workers are still required to remove the stems which can puncture the skin of other apples as the robots cannot complete this task After the stem is clipped and the apple is inspected it’s transferred into a holding container that can be set on the ground for later pick-up The apple-picking robots are now available in Washington Commercial trials on several varieties have been completed this year in the Columbia Basin “We’ve already seen massive improvements this year compared to last ” says Director of Business Development Peter Ferguson “Our picking speed has risen dramatically with peak speeds of almost 2 500 apples per hour ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Advanced Farm Technologies Inc 27993 Mace Blvd Davis Calif 95618 ph 530-564-8444; https://advanced farm/
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