Strawberry-picking robot to speed up harvest and tackle labour crisis

Low-cost robots which can harvest and package strawberries in a matter of seconds have been trialled in Essex as part of ambitious plans to tackle a labour shortage in the industry.

The University of Essex has been working with world-famous jam makers, Wilkin & Sons, to test the new prototype, which costs a fraction of the price of existing technology.

This latest project, funded by a £1.02million grant via the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ flagship Farming Innovation Programme, has seen the low-cost robot tasked with picking strawberries from one of Wilkins and Sons’ vertical farms in Tiptree.

The robot, which can pick a strawberry in just 2.5 seconds, is based on a previous prototype which has been successfully trialled for the last two seasons.

The modular architecture can be easily adapted to other crops – with robotic harvesting trials planned later on in the project with onions, tomatoes and lettuce.

Dr Vishwanathan Mohan and Professor Klaus McDonald-Maier, both from Essex’s School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, have helped design and build the robot.

Dr Mohan said: “Through this project we want to transform how food is grown efficiently using robotics and AI, and make state-of-the-art agri-robotics technologies accessible to everyone.

“Even if smaller farms and businesses can afford a robot, you need a whole fleet of them to make a difference, so it is vital we find cost-effective alternatives to help the agricultural industry.

“At the same time robotics is a game changer to tackle some of the critical challenges facing us – food security, labour security, climate and energy.”

The prototype is able to pick the strawberries using a robotic arm, before weighing each one and placing it in packaging. It is hoped the project will not only reduce the repetitive, labour-intensive process of crop picking, but will also extend the shelf-life of produce by speeding up the packaging process.

Existing crop-picking robots cost on average around £150,000 but if successful, the new prototype will cost a fraction of the price at around £10,000.

Chris Newenham, Joint Managing Director of Wilkin & Sons, said: “Wilkin & Sons are once again delighted to partner with the University of Essex in tackling what is currently the most significant challenge for our industry.

“Our experience from our initial work with the institution is that these challenges are inordinately complex and take time, it is work which is definitely not for the faint hearted but we are confident that we are working with the very best partners and very much looking forward to seeing the fruits of our collective labours over the coming years.”

The Government’s flagship Farming Innovation Programme aims to support ambitious projects to transform productivity and enhance environmental sustainability in England’s agricultural and horticultural sectors, whilst driving the sectors towards net zero.