Fast Company

The California Table Grape Industry is encouraging further research to design “autonomous utility vehicles” that can move through vineyards at low speeds and perform a variety of functions, including “carrying crates of grapes as they are harvested by workers, and autonomously driving to the packing station,” says Dr. Frank Gabler, viticulture research director. “However, this phase of research hasn’t begun yet.”

At Stemilt, Pepperl says, “we’re testing various mechanical assistance harvesters that allow workers to pick apples [and place them] into a tube or onto a belt to increase productivity.” He calls it “the next wave of technology that will help us keep up with the harvest.”

And the strawberry picking robot may be side-stepping into different fields. “We’re expanding the crops that our equipment handles,” Wickham says. “We’re looking at broccoli and cabbage.”

Karkee is looking at how shake-and-catch technology may be modified for the fresh market, but finds two major obstacles: contact with the fragile fruit and the distance it must fall from the tree. Trials involve catching fruit in smaller areas, compared to the large volume of shaking an entire tree. Although research is still in its earliest stages, foams and other materials are being evaluated for a ‘gentle catch.’

What’s Really On The Line

There is a big picture advantage to mechanized harvesting, too. Because the labor market is at best uncertain, Karkee cites the power of technological breakthroughs to sustain the produce industry for the long term. It is this outcome Ferguson is working towards in California’s table olive industry, believing it is critical to survival.

English sees robotics making major in-roads in the future of agriculture, especially if labor resources shrivel up. As far as robots picking oranges, “it’s not one of the hardest problems. It is doable with current technology,” English states. “I’m confident of that.”