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Latest robot can pick strawberry fields forever
Japan Times ^ | 09/30/2013

Posted on 09/30/2013 12:53:07 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

A robot that picks ripe strawberries while farmers sleep has been unveiled with claims it could cut workloads by two-thirds.

The device, unveiled Wednesday, can pick a piece of fruit every eight seconds by using three cameras to determine which strawberries are ready to pick. A mechanized arm then darts out to snip each one free and place it into its basket.

The 2-meter robot moves on rails between rows of strawberries, which in Japan are usually grown in elevated greenhouse planters.

It “calculates the degree of ripeness from the color of the strawberry, which it observes with two digital cameras,” said Mitsutaka Kurita, an official at Shibuya Seiki, the developer of the machine.

“It also uses the images from the two cameras to calculate the distance from the target, then approaches the strawberry it is aiming at,” he said.

A third camera takes a detailed photo of the fruit, which it uses for the final calculation before moving in to snip it.

(Excerpt) Read more at japantimes.co.jp ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Science
KEYWORDS: robot; strawberries
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To: SeekAndFind

21 posted on 09/30/2013 1:04:16 PM PDT by JoeProBono (SOME IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED;-{)
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To: GraceG
And no fecal matter on the strawberries to give people e-coli infections. That’s a big improvement over laborers who don’t wash their hands.

Ding Ding, we have a winner, not to mention their other health habits in the fields that have caused many to get ill...

Robotization of the food industry could be a paradigm changer. Often overlooked is the Shaking and Collecting device for Cherries, which is more mechanical but takes something like these robots to the next level...

22 posted on 09/30/2013 1:05:02 PM PDT by taildragger (The E-GOP won't know what hit them, The Party of Reagan is almost here, hang tight folks....)
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To: Uncle Miltie
Making illegal aliens undocumented workers irrelevant?

Robot rights -- the next refuge for the Race Pimps:


23 posted on 09/30/2013 1:05:03 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (Fight Tapinophobia in all its forms! Do not submit to arduus privilege.)
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To: SeekAndFind
RE: I want one.... Last year I picked 30+ gallons of strawberries..... That will be Five million yen ( or $50,000 ) please.

I guess I could instead hire cheap labors to do my picking instead. almost sarcasm, probably have to provide them a trip to their 'church' to confess their sins and pay off the local religious man.

24 posted on 09/30/2013 1:05:09 PM PDT by Just mythoughts (Jesus said Luke 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I didn’t click the link, but that photo looks like a carefully set up elevated growing platform. Does this thing work outside under actual strawberry field conditions?


25 posted on 09/30/2013 1:05:12 PM PDT by Drawsing
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To: Just mythoughts

If a robot can pick strawberries, one can be built to pick tomatoes, lettuce, asparagus and just about any other crop.

They’ll be able to work 24 hours a day, meaning an entire crop can be brought to market in 1/2 to 1/3 the amount of time required for human labor, plus they won’t call in sick or go to the bathroom in the fields causing the crops to be contaminated with E Coli or other pathogens.

I forsee similar robots able to plant crops, pick weeds, apply fertilizers, insecticides and water very selectively to minimize the amount of chemicals and water required and creating a much more consistent crop.

Commercial farmers will be fools not to invest in this technology.


26 posted on 09/30/2013 1:05:21 PM PDT by CarmichaelPatriot
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To: Hotlanta Mike

Except it looks like its doing it in a lab. Probably a lot more work is required for a mobile robot to do it outside in a real field. Still, it is probably just a matter of time....


27 posted on 09/30/2013 1:05:27 PM PDT by rbg81
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To: Zuben Elgenubi
They've had tomato harvesters for awhile See Link

I believe strawberries were the last major crop not to have mechanical pickers.

28 posted on 09/30/2013 1:05:34 PM PDT by vbmoneyspender
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To: Gamecock
RE: Catchy.

Someone should write a song.

Did anybody call?

29 posted on 09/30/2013 1:05:35 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: 21twelve
Leading to my next point: a few workers not washing their hands while picking produce will not result in a bacterial infection spreading over several States, despite what the alarmists claim.
30 posted on 09/30/2013 1:07:07 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: Zuben Elgenubi
Tomatoes PEOPLE are next!!!!!


31 posted on 09/30/2013 1:07:09 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (Fight Tapinophobia in all its forms! Do not submit to arduus privilege.)
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To: 1rudeboy
Until our FR protectionists roll in, and claim that we need the jobs.

Nah. FR protectionists don't mind technology,they just want to use it here. They especially don't want to give away the intellectual property behind the technology to Red China.
32 posted on 09/30/2013 1:07:48 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There's no salvation in politics.)
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To: CarmichaelPatriot
If a robot can pick strawberries, one can be built to pick tomatoes, lettuce, asparagus and just about any other crop. They’ll be able to work 24 hours a day, meaning an entire crop can be brought to market in 1/2 to 1/3 the amount of time required for human labor, plus they won’t call in sick or go to the bathroom in the fields causing the crops to be contaminated with E Coli or other pathogens. I forsee similar robots able to plant crops, pick weeds, apply fertilizers, insecticides and water very selectively to minimize the amount of chemicals and water required and creating a much more consistent crop. Commercial farmers will be fools not to invest in this technology.

Hey IF I had the money, I would buy me a couple that could not only pick the produce but process it as well. BUT meanwhile I am left to do the best I can do. My left thumb and right shoulder hate me after this spring/summer/autumn's workout.

33 posted on 09/30/2013 1:08:46 PM PDT by Just mythoughts (Jesus said Luke 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.)
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To: Zuben Elgenubi

Err tomatoes have been mechanically harvested for 30+ years.

http://tomatoharvester.com/


34 posted on 09/30/2013 1:08:48 PM PDT by mad_as_he$$
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To: Drawsing

RE: I didn’t click the link, but that photo looks like a carefully set up elevated growing platform. Does this thing work outside under actual strawberry field conditions?

This product has only been demonstrated by the Japanese company — Shibuya Seiki at last week’s annual Auto-ID and Communication Expo at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center.

It’s not even on sale yet.

According to the article:

The robot will go on sale early next year for about ¥5 million.

Strawberries are available all year round in Japan and typically fetch ¥500 for a small basket.


35 posted on 09/30/2013 1:09:21 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: Zuben Elgenubi
The machine that revolutionized a harvest - The UC-Blackwelder tomato harvester, developed at the University of California, Davis, in 1949, helped to usher in mechanization that proved vital in the growth of California's tomato-growing business. Partly because of this piece of equipment, California now produces 95 percent of the processing tomatoes grown in the United States.
36 posted on 09/30/2013 1:09:49 PM PDT by vbmoneyspender
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To: Gamecock

Nothing to get hung about......
It doesn’t matter much to me (baby boomer)


37 posted on 09/30/2013 1:11:01 PM PDT by The_Media_never_lie (Actually, they lie when it suits them! The crooked MS media must be defeated any way it can be done!)
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To: Dr. Sivana
You missed the most important part: they want to tax you.
38 posted on 09/30/2013 1:11:19 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: vbmoneyspender

Thank you, I was aware of the equipment.


39 posted on 09/30/2013 1:11:56 PM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi
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To: vbmoneyspender
Picking strawberries is back-breaking work.
It sure is - from the ages of 11-14 or so, my brother and I picked strawberries every early summer. A Japanese/American family farm in the Green River valley had a small fleet of old buses and would transport mostly kids to the field very early in the morning. Bring your own lunch. We were paid 50 cents per flat, which I believe is 12 pints. Mid 1960's.
40 posted on 09/30/2013 1:12:43 PM PDT by dainbramaged (Joe McCarthy was right.)
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