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Robot hand could harvest blackberries better than humans

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Re: Robot hand could harvest blackberries better than humans

#31

Post by PaulHoule »

EA-3167 wrote: post #20
helltone wrote: post #14

Every time I see these headlines, the tech seems to be at least 10 years away from product. - demos done in a lab controlled environment without the crazy things that happen in a real world. - no humans nearby so none of the safety features that would be needed should this thing work alongside/near humans. - no regards for economics, expensive vision models, expensive hardware, no consideration for maintenance and re…

This is a classic example of University press releases, you learn to recognize the pattern. Someone who's skill set is PR gets a dumbed-down version of the science, and then converts that into a hype piece that ignores reality in favor of vague statements. If you want the essence of this technique look at any university press release about fusion technology.

... and if you ask them "got RSS?" they're the least likely to respond.

Re: Robot hand could harvest blackberries better than humans

#33

Post by Animats »

Loughla wrote: post #26
bob1029 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no regards for economics This is the #1 killer every time. You will always find the most efficient farm machinery to be the least human-like in its design principles. The more it looks like something out of Mad Max the better. Unless we come up with a machine like the combine harvester for blackberries, no one is going to be interested.

>Unless we come up with a machine like the combine harvester for blackberries, no one is going to be interested. Good news! https://airharvesters.com/ Clarkson's farm taught me that this is already a thing.

There are several kinds of blueberry picking machines. There are air-blast pickers that blow the berries off the plant. There are ones with wheels of vibrating sticks. There are ones that get a comb around the plant and pull.

Some berries get damaged, yes. Some leaves and twigs get through. They're separated out by a very fast vision-based sorting machine before packing.[1] That's been standard technology for a decade or so.

Apple picking is still in the R&D stage.[2] Cost needs to come down to $0.02 per pick.

It's great to see startups in this area, but the thing has to work. There are too many failed ag robotics startups.[3] Ask "could you pressure-wash this thing"? If there are wires, electronics, and bearings exposed, it's still experimental.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ica3FLAvPas

[2] https://goodfruit.com/lots-of-bots-video

[3] https://www.futurefarming.com/tech-in-focus/field-robots/cha...

Re: Robot hand could harvest blackberries better than humans

#34

Post by dmoy »

jahewson wrote: post #28
dmoy wrote: post #22

I would settle for a robot that can kill blackberry bushes. Blackberries cut me so much, every time I go do maintenance on another noxious weed, English ivy which is busy killing all my trees

I’m yet to see ivy kill a tree. I don’t get why people think this happens. It can certainly make them look ugly though.

I've seen it and then seen the resulting dead tree fall on my house. Tree was already dead from ivy by the time I bought it. When I finally went back to cut it out, the biggest ivy were like 14cm diameter or bigger.

Re: Robot hand could harvest blackberries better than humans

#35

Post by m463 »

Animats wrote: post #33
Loughla wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Unless we come up with a machine like the combine harvester for blackberries, no one is going to be interested. Good news! https://airharvesters.com/ Clarkson's farm taught me that this is already a thing.

There are several kinds of blueberry picking machines. There are air-blast pickers that blow the berries off the plant. There are ones with wheels of vibrating sticks. There are ones that get a comb around the plant and pull. Some berries get damaged, yes. Some leaves and twigs get through. They're separated out by a very fast vision-based sorting machine before packing.[1] That's been standard technology for a decad…

> Ask "could you pressure-wash this thing"?

Is that a necessary requirement? I mean, that would probably damage current harvesters, who are human people.

I mean, there are lots of parts of cars where pressure washing would probably force fluid into the bearings.

Might that not apply to hydraulic, pneumatic or electronic systems too?

(I do get what you're saying though)

Re: Robot hand could harvest blackberries better than humans

#37

Post by Animats »

m463 wrote: post #35
Animats wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are several kinds of blueberry picking machines. There are air-blast pickers that blow the berries off the plant. There are ones with wheels of vibrating sticks. There are ones that get a comb around the plant and pull. Some berries get damaged, yes. Some leaves and twigs get through. They're separated out by a very fast vision-based sorting machine before packing.[1] That's been standard technology for a decad…

> Ask "could you pressure-wash this thing"? Is that a necessary requirement? I mean, that would probably damage current harvesters, who are human people. I mean, there are lots of parts of cars where pressure washing would probably force fluid into the bearings. Might that not apply to hydraulic, pneumatic or electronic systems too? (I do get what you're saying though)

Pressure washing a combine harvester.[1] Also trucks, tractors, etc. End of harvest cleanup for a farm in Minnesota.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-dOW2wn0rM

Re: Robot hand could harvest blackberries better than humans

#38

Post by elcritch »

m463 wrote: post #35
Animats wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are several kinds of blueberry picking machines. There are air-blast pickers that blow the berries off the plant. There are ones with wheels of vibrating sticks. There are ones that get a comb around the plant and pull. Some berries get damaged, yes. Some leaves and twigs get through. They're separated out by a very fast vision-based sorting machine before packing.[1] That's been standard technology for a decad…

> Ask "could you pressure-wash this thing"? Is that a necessary requirement? I mean, that would probably damage current harvesters, who are human people. I mean, there are lots of parts of cars where pressure washing would probably force fluid into the bearings. Might that not apply to hydraulic, pneumatic or electronic systems too? (I do get what you're saying though)

Yes, powerwashing would be wanted. That's an IP69K, not too hard to hit with some basic mechanical protections.

Unless you need delicate sensors which need direct contact to samples to work.

Maybe it's not a complete necessity, but generally it's gonna be mixed in with big farm equipment that is power washed. The more you have to "coddle" the equipment the less cost effective it'll be for farmers.

Farm workers generally know how to wash themselves. Still I'd wage good money farm hands have used power washers on each other. Probably work well to clean off work coveralls!

Re: Robot hand could harvest blackberries better than humans

#39

Post by UncleOxidant »

ortusdux wrote: post #15

Having filled my share of blackberry flats, the first part of the picking motion is a ripeness check. You want the berry to be firm with a bit of give, and you want it to pull free from the plant easily. The force feedback sensors mentioned here seems to be for training purposes, but they would probably be better used on the finished grabbers to detect ripeness.

Yes, this. There's a certain way that ripe blakcberries (and raspberries) feel and pull away from the plant. After a while you just sort of understand the tactile sense of ripeness. So while this might pick blackberries without damaging them, I doubt they're going to be peak ripeness. Blackberries don't continue to ripen after they're picked so it's not like tomatoes where they can pick them kind of green and they ripen up by the time they hit the store.
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