Dear Madam, I have tried to answer this question. All possible robots have the ability to get on your tomatoes, pulling strawberries, planting. The position of the plants is manually indicated by the particle / fruit based on the soil. The point view is a portrait view of the landscape, the plant in the soil.

Good for questions for +ve, -ve diversity.

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The marketplace offers a number of well researched robotics for harvesting agricultural products such as tomatoes. This article discusses U.S.- -The Virgo:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/11/root-ai-unveils-its-tomato-picking-robot-virgo.html

"AT WORK

This robot can pick tomatoes without bruising them and detect ripeness better than humans

PUBLISHED SAT, MAY 11 201910:16 AM EDTUPDATED SAT, MAY 11 20193:12 PM EDT

Erin Black

Lora Kolodny@LORAKOLODNY

WATCH NOW

VIDEO02:54

This tomato-picking robot is more efficient than humans and can work 24/7

Farmers spend more than $34 billion a year on labor in the U.S., according to the USDA. And many would like to hire more help. But the agriculture industry here faces labor shortages, thanks in part to the scarcity of H2B visas, and an aging worker population. Older workers can’t necessarily handle the hours or repetitive physical tasks they once might have.

That’s where Root AI, a start-up in Somerville, Massachusetts, comes in. The company’s first agricultural robot, dubbed the Virgo 1, can pick tomatoes without bruising them, and detect ripeness better than humans.

The Virgo is a self-driving robot with sensors and cameras that serve as its eyes. Because it also has lights on board, it can navigate large commercial greenhouses any hour of the day or night, detecting which tomatoes are ripe enough to harvest. A “system-on-module” runs the Virgo’s AI-software brain. A robotic arm, with a dexterous hand attached, moves gently enough to work alongside people, and can independently pick tomatoes without tearing down vines.

The robot’s “fingers” are made of a food-safe plastic that’s about as flexible as a credit card, and easily cleaned. Josh Lessing, founder and CEO of Root AI, says that easy-to-clean trait is important.

“People don’t think about this -- you have to manage disease on a farm. Just as if I picked with my own hands, there’s a risk of spreading around mold, viruses or insects with a robot. That’s why you want these to be washable. It is part of the work you do to keep the plants safe.”

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Virgo robot picks tomatoes.

Root AI

One of the most unique things about the Virgo, he notes, is that the company can write new AI software and add additional sensors or grippers to handle different crops. “It’s a complete mobile platform enabled to harvest whatever you need,” says Lessing.

In this way, the Virgo is a departure from other crop-specific harvesting machines on the market and in development, like Abundant Robotics’ apple picker, Agrobot’s strawberry picker, and Sweeper’s pepper-picker.

The Virgo has been tested at commercial greenhouses, including in the U.S. and Canada already. And Root AI has raised funding from noteworthy venture firms, including Accomplice, First Round, Half Court, Liquid2 and Schematic.

Lessing expects to see the Virgo in broad commercial use next year, and to develop new software that enables it to pick other high-value crops like cucumbers, strawberries and peppers after that."

SOURCE LINK: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/11/root-ai-unveils-its-tomato-picking-robot-virgo.html

Research and development in Japan features specialized battery-operated tomato-harvesting robotics by a Japanese firm which has opened branches in Europe.

https://www.foodandfarmingtechnology.com/news/autonomous-robots/japanese-agtech-company-launches-robotic-tomato-harvester.html

"ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

"Japanese agtech company launches robotic tomato harvester"

📷By CHRIS MCCULLOUGH / April 7, 2021

Picking tomatoes can be costly and laborious especially when labor is in short supply but robotic help is now available. Japanese company Inaho Inc has set up a subsidiary company Inaho Europe BV with a base in the Netherlands, and has developed a new robot for harvesting snack tomatoes.

The company’s goal is to devise robotic solutions to help boost agriculture production, it has previously launched an AI-equipped asparagus harvesting robot back in 2019.The European arm of the company officially started operations on April 1, 2021 and it has launched the tomato robotic harvester as its first product.

The European Union produces around 17 million tonnes of tomatoes each year which involves a lot of picking hours and cost to get the produce shop-ready.

Autonomous navigation, indoors, outdoors, 24/7 Inaho’s new product is a fully-automated robot used to harvest snack tomatoes. It is programmed to use AI algorithms to identify ripe fruits by their colour and size.

Powered by batteries this latest robot can run for up to 12 hour shifts on a single charge working day and night. Autonomous navigation using SLAM, RTK GPS and sensor technologies allows the robust mobile robot to navigate both indoors and outdoors.📷

inaho first began the development of its tomato harvesting robot in 2020. Currently, four robots have already been manufactured and released for work. These machines are already being operated in the field and are collecting feedback from several leading growers in Japan for further improvements.

inaho says its mission is to make farming more sustainable and, through its solutions, the company aims to contribute to saving labour and efficiency improvement in agriculture in Europe and other regions.

Sohya Ohyama, co-founder and COO of inaho, recognises the current need for this tomato harvester and said: “Farms and producers across various countries are suffering from labour shortages as a result of the pandemic of Covid-19.“In addition to the global pandemic, the increasing wages for farmworkers are becoming a growing difficulty for businesses in agriculture.

“These challenges could eventually lead to food shortages in the coming years; therefore now is the time to introduce automation technologies and to transition away from the existing methods of farming.

“We believe that our cutting edge technologies and solutions will contribute to the well-being of all persons in the agricultural industry and lead to the realization of sustainable agriculture in the future.

“To make this happen, we are seeking partners who can expand on these values together including growers, seed companies and facility equipment companies in the EU.”

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📷Chris McCullough-Twitter Chris McCullough is a freelance multi-media journalist based in Northern Ireland and specializes in all aspects of agriculture. He has spent the past 18 years travelling the globe hunting for the best stories in food, farming and politics. He has reported extensively from overseas, mostly throughout Europe but also from USA, Canada, India, Australia and African countries on various topics. He has won a number of awards for his photos and journalism and is always on the lookout for his next exclusive.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of a globally growing need for robotics in harvesting agricultural crops due to aging populations, growing populations, and aging workers, using Japan's story as a model:

https://news.panasonic.com/global/stories/2018/57801.html

"Introducing AI-equipped Tomato Harvesting Robots to Farms May Help to Create Jobs

May 23, 2018

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The number of people engaged in agriculture in Japan is decreasing, and the country's elderly population is rapidly increasing. Agricultural high-tech is one of the measures that are seen as a solution to these problems. In the midst of this, "harvesting robots" driven by AI and robotic technology are gathering attention. The idea is to leave harvesting work, which accounts for 20% of all agricultural work, to robots in order to increase efficiency. Advanced farms are already appearing that have put robots to work and are developing technology and know-how.

Automating the Harvest, Which Accounts for 20% of All Farm Work

The biggest problem that Japanese agriculture presently faces is the decrease in farm workers and the aging population. Whereas the number of people engaged in agriculture was 3,353,000 in 2005, it dropped to 2,606,000 in 2010, and 1,922,000 in 2016. Meanwhile, the percentage of elderly people has risen, from 58.2% at age 65 or above among all people engaged in agriculture in 2005, to 61.6% in 2010, and 65.2% in 2016.

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Changes in the work force and percentage of elderly workers in Japanese agriculture

This has reduced agricultural productivity, increased the number of fields and rice paddies that have been abandoned, and lowered the food self-sufficiency ratio. It is currently presenting a variety of challenges to Japan in both the public and private sectors. In the area of technology, we're seeing the development of plant factories, automated farm work, and highly productive food species.

In the midst of this, as an example of the challenge, there is a harvesting robot that is working at an advanced farm.

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This farm contains three glass greenhouses covering a total of five hectares and cultivating several types of tomatoes. Robots are harvesting a portion of these tomatoes for verification, thus aiming to increase productivity and improve functions.

These greenhouses were originally built to achieve stable agricultural production unaffected by changes in the external environment. Because of this, it aimed to improve productivity by using computer control for the house's interior temperature, humidity, light, sprinkling, fertilizer, and carbon dioxide concentration. In line with this concept, advanced harvesting robots were also actively introduced.

According to Masataka Nakamura, who manages the farm, "Japanese agriculture will never see a bright future unless it can resolve the problem of a lack of labor. The ability of robots to lighten the harvesting workload is a major advantage. The time spent on harvesting is at least 20% of the entire agricultural work load. About 160,000 man hours are spent each year working inside our greenhouses, and 35,000-36,000 hours of this is spent in harvesting. We can automate this by using harvesting robots."

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Masataka Nakamura, manager of a farm using Tomato Harvesting Robots

Trial calculations by the farm indicate that 40% of the work time involves caring for the plants, and 40% involves packaging the harvested vegetables after checking for damages and softness. This work is complicated, so it would be difficult to have the Tomato Harvesting Robots do it at this stage.

Compared to that, it is quite easy to use the robots for harvesting work. It is also a major benefit that the robots can work at night while people are sleeping. In the morning, the people who work at the farm simply need to package the tomatoes that have been harvested. "The greenhouses are limited in space, so we place the emphasis on how much we can raise the productivity within them. Raising the productivity and lowering the burden on the workers are major advantages," explains Mr. Nakamura.

When you think of robots, you may imagine that people will no longer be necessary. However, Mr. Nakamura hopes that the use of the harvesting robots will actually help to create jobs.

"Agriculture is sometimes avoided because it is described as the "3Ds" = Dirty, Dangerous, and Demanding. The robot takes care of the most demanding part. We are still at the stage of conducting research and solving one problem at a time in pursuit of the ideal solution. I hope that robot technology that has been polished at our farm will also be used at other farms. This will make Japan's farm work easier and result in more people becoming involved in agriculture," said by Mr. Nakamura.

Japanese society is said to be experiencing a work-style reform. The introduction of the Tomato Harvesting Robot may trigger a change in agricultural work from a technical viewpoint.

Ripeness Is Determined by Image Recognition

So how does the Tomato Harvesting Robot actually work? The robot moves along a rail that is laid between the tomato seedling rows to harvest the tomatoes. The robot is equipped with a camera that has an image recognition function. It uses this to find the tomatoes and determine whether they should be harvested or not. In this way, it decides the route for operation and brings an end effector close to the tomato for harvesting. It passes the targeted tomato through a ring, then pulls on it. By pressing the primary limb (called the peduncle), the tomato is picked as if it were being taken by a hand, and dropped into a pocket below.

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Harvesting is presently done at the pace of one tomato every six seconds. Since people can pick one tomato every 2-3 seconds, the people are faster, but people can only work for about 3-4 hours. On the other hand, the Tomato Harvesting Robots can work for 10 consecutive hours or more, and they can also work at night, so the farm considers this speed to be sufficient for them.

One of the issues for Tomato Harvesting Robot development was the ability to judge the degree of ripeness for proper harvesting.

To achieve this, attention was focused on the changes in color. Tomatoes start out green and progressively turn red as they ripen. With this in mind, a system was developed that enables the tomatoes to be recorded and compared with color samples produced by the farm to determine their ripeness. As Mr. Nakamura explained, "There are individual differences when this decision is made by people, but that doesn't occur with the robots. Tomatoes can be picked stably with the same degree of ripeness. A trial run showed that there is absolutely no problem in this selection, and the results are satisfactory."

The color sample range can be freely set. If you want to lower the ripeness a bit to increase the amount of production, you can simply change the setting so it's closer to the green range than normal.

The Tomato Harvesting Robots can select and pick tomatoes of certain colors at night by using a flash. The robots continue working at night in unmanned greenhouses under these twinkling lights.

Aiming for a Society Where People and Robots Help Each Other

These Tomato Harvesting Robots are being developed by Panasonic. The person in charge, Ryo Toshima, visits this farm regularly to analyze the present status and further improve the functions while exchanging opinions with the people working there.

Mr. Toshima says, "We started by imitating the work being done by people in farm chores and harvesting. We used rings instead of blades, and we created a method of picking the tomatoes without directly touching them, just like manual farm work."

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Ryo Toshima, Manager of Development Section, Robotics Promotion Room, Production Technology HQ, Panasonic Corporation

The performance of Tomato Harvesting Robots greatly improved recently with the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI). As Mr. Toshima says, "Previously, when a tomato was partially hidden by a leaf or a stem, the robot wouldn't be able to recognize it as a tomato. By learning photographs that included only parts of tomatoes, the robot became able to recognize them as tomatoes." In the future, by increasing the recognition performance of parts such as leaves and branches, the robot's harvesting ratio will be raised.

Up to now, Panasonic has developed robotics in a variety of fields, including medical welfare, home appliances, and social infrastructure. These robotic technologies have led to the creation of other new technologies because, as a home appliance manufacturer, Panasonic has worked with its customers, conducted research, and collected technological expertise. Guided by the key words "People-Centric Robotics," Panasonic aim to develop robots that people can safely and securely work with, and robots that are helpful to people.

Toward these efforts, Panasonic preserves two main principles. One is safety. Meticulous care is taken to prevent robots from bumping into people or injuring people in any way. And the second is that people use robot technologies that allow them to conduct the kinds of activities that they enjoy. This can be done by having the robots work instead of people, or by raising the actual capabilities of people. As we approach the era of 100-year lives, Panasonic aims to coexist with robots to create societies with pleasant lifestyles for all kinds of people.

As Mr. Toshima says, "Without limiting ourselves to agriculture, we want to develop robots that help people all over the world, and robots that make people happy. We hope that the elemental technologies that are accumulated in our Tomato Harvesting Robot will be applied to robots in a wide range of fields."

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The introduction of AI has dramatically improved the Tomato Harvesting Robot. Even greater progress will be made with future research. Naturally, this is true for the field of agriculture, but it will also provide solutions to a wide variety of problems.

- Reproduced from the website "Mirai-kotohajime", by courtesy of Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.

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SOURCE LINK: https://news.panasonic.com/global/stories/2018/57801.html

This fairly recent article indicates state-of-the-art robotics for harvesting tomato crops because it indicates development of robotics capable of learning new data, and therefore, robotics able to adapt to large and small changes in crop output:

https://vegetablegrowersnews.com/news/multifunctional-robot-for-tomato-harvesting-introduced/

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"Multifunctional robot for tomato harvesting introduced" / SEP 6, 2021

The Certhon Harvest Robot is a multifunctional robot that detects, cuts and transports tomatoes to boxes all by itself. The deep-learning technology will make the robot smarter with each harvest.

According to a news release, the Certhon Harvest Robot can detect the fruits and sense which tomatoes are ready for harvesting thanks to advanced vision technology. The robot shows what we are capable of when we combine smart technology, ambitious people and horticultural knowledge.

The robot moves in multiple directions to find the optimum position and route for harvesting. Thanks to smart cameras and lighting, the robot can harvest day and night. In the near future, the harvest robot can also scout the yield and measure the climate and health of the plants, including the functionality to protect for pests and diseases.

Edwin Vanlaerhoven, business development director at Certhon notes: “In order to make sure all of tomorrow’s people are fed, the world needs to come up with innovative and smart solutions now,” Edwin Vanlaerhoven, business development director at Certhon, said in the news release. “Eliminating uncontrollable external factors such as weather conditions, plague or disease has always been on top of a farmer’s wish list, and for horticulture the 20th century greenhouse that counters these threats was a big step forward. Now, with drastic changes happening in climate, demographics and labor shortages, it’s time to bring the greenhouse system in line with the 21st century. With that objective in mind, the Certhon Harvest Robot is created.  The robot simplifies the cultivation process, making the opportunity to grow food accessible to everyone. And this is just the beginning.”

Haruhiko Kato, chief technical officer at Certhon said: “Each crop is unique and the crops’ condition change every day. Therefore it is very important that the robot’s motion adapts to any height, direction and growth speed. By teaching the robot all these skills, we can really change the way we grow.”📷

The Certhon Harvest Robot is the result of a partnership between DENSO and Certhon. DENSO’s iterative improvement combined with Certhon’s ingenuity, ensures the knowledge and experience to deliver some of the most technologically-advanced growing systems available today.📷

Certhon engineers and manufactures turnkey, tailor-made solutions for the most high-tech horticultural projects, anywhere in the world. Certhon has more than 125 years of experience in horticulture and is based in the Netherlands. With 150 highly trained and experienced experts, the company has all the know-how and technologies under one roof to enable entrepreneurs to grow anything, anywhere. Certhon focuses on large-scale greenhouse projects, DayLED growing, and robots; and tomorrow, they’ll deliver Yield-as-a-Service.

As of April 1, 2020, the Japanese company DENSO became co-owner of Certhon. DENSO is a global manufacturer of autom📷otive components offering advanced automotive technologies, systems and products. As a global Fortune 500 company, DENSO has a broad product portfolio and widespread global impact.

DENSO has been a leader and pioneer in manufacturing automation, including the design and manufacturing of industrial robot arms, since the 1960s. DENSO has developed several robots for horticulture already, which are widely used worldwide. The Certhon Harvest Robot is the next step in autonomous growing and is based on existing robot technologies."

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SOURCE LINK: https://vegetablegrowersnews.com/news/multifunctional-robot-for-tomato-harvesting-introduced/

This short illustrated past-present-futurist article looks at fourteen different facets of robotics for agriculture:

https://roboticsbiz.com/top-14-agricultural-robots-for-harvesting-and-nursery/

"Top 14 Agricultural Robots For Harvesting And Nursery

April 10, 2019/ ByBaiju NT-

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"The world population is expected to hit 9 billion by 2050. What is expected to follow is a dramatic increase in agricultural production, doubling to meet future demand. This need made farmers turn to robotics as a solution for the future.

Many in the agricultural sector agree that the industry is heading towards more technology on the farm, which could include agricultural robots. Indeed, several companies have already made significant progress in creating robotic systems for use in agriculture that are either in field testing stages or already entering the market.

In this post, we will look at a list of top 14 agricultural robots for nursery and harvesting.

1.Harvest Automation HV-100

Harvest Automation HV-100 is a farmer’s assistant designed to work alongside people, planting. Although designed to work in a variety of manual positions, moving potted plants around works well in nurseries. It can do an enormous task of moving potted plants from point A to point B. With experience using simple mapping software to allow robots to perform tasks autonomously in a known environment, Harvest robots can work around the clock without vacation or time off.

2. Energid Citrus Picking System

Energid Citrus Picking System is ideal for the citrus fruit business. It can select fruit every 2 – 3 seconds. The robot is not only cheap, but also very efficient.

3. Agrobot E-Series

Designed for strawberry fields, Agrobot E – Series has twenty – four robotic wireless arms that can not only quickly pick strawberries, but can also identify a strawberry’s maturity in the field.

4. Robotic Vacuum Apple Picker – Abundant Robotics

Thanks to Abundant Robotics, apple orchard farmers can now use robots instead of seasonal pickers. AR startup uses vacuum to select apples from trees. The robot uses algorithms to identify and locate apples in the tree. Technology not specifically designed for agriculture. In a wide range of industries, the same technology can be applied, but for now they use it in agriculture. The robot is designed to accurately harvest and store apples. The collection is made through a flexible hose and storage is made in the same big boxes that human workers use.

5. Harvey – Capsicum Harvester

The Technology University of Queensland developed a prototype robotic capsicum (sweet pepper) harvester nicknamed’ Harvey,’ combining robotic vision and automation expertise to benefit farmers. The camera system and harvesting tool are mounted at a standard robotic (arm) manipulator end. Combining robotic-vision techniques and crop manipulation tools are key factors in harvesting these crops.

6. Sweeper

Sweeper, backed by the EU as part of its Horizon 2020 innovation program, is built to pick ripe peppers in a greenhouse. To do his job, Sweeper uses a camera that recognizes a pepper’s color. Computer vision then helps the robot decide whether to pick the fruit. If so, Sweeper uses a small razor to cut the stem before catching the fruit in its “claws” and dropping it in a basket below.

7. Green Robot Machinery

This is a cotton-picking robot, developed by Green Robot Machinery. The robot is programmed for typical cotton topography. For maximum motion range, the robot uses six degrees of freedom to reach the cotton plant from the side. Using path-planning algorithms, the arm is guided to the cotton. The robot creates the plant’s 3D model and, using a vacuum tube, the machine sucks the cotton in a more time-efficient manner.

8. FFRobotics

FFRobotics is a robot that collects 10,000 apples an hour. FFRobotics machine has a three-fingered grip that can grab and twist fruit from a branch and has at least twelve robotic arms. Like many other robots, FFrobot uses advanced algorithms and algorithms to pick tree fruits. Image processing algorithms can detect fruits damaged, diseased, or unripe. The grasping hand can be easily modified to pick different fruit types. This makes the robot available for various harvest seasons.

9. GRoW

MetoMotion’s GRoW is described as ‘a multipurpose robotic intensive system for labor-intensive tasks in greenhouses with the ability to harvest tomatoes.

10. Dogtooth – Harvesting Soft Fruits

Strawberries are delicate fruits requiring careful picking. Start-up Dogtooth Technologies designed a robotic arm capable of harvesting sensitive fruits like strawberries. Using machine vision and motion planning algorithms, the robot recognizes and locates the ripe fruit to be picked. The next robot development step is to improve learning algorithms.

To make better fruit harvesting decisions, the robot needs learning algorithms to harvest with fewer errors. Several cameras capture the fruit images for a detailed view of the crops. The GPS system mounted on the robot platform helps precise plant and fruit production. Thus, the farmer can identify the most productive area and low-yield area.

11. Energid Citrus Picking System

This large but low – cost orange – picking gadget can clear an orange tree as little or less as human labor would cost. That means picking an orange every two to three seconds, sounding slow, but this robot never gets tired.

12. MIT Robot Gardener

Massachusetts Institute of Technology students designed a mobile robot to maintain soil moisture and pick ripe fruit. A network of sensors attached to each plant monitor soil humidity and call the water robot. The robot communicates wirelessly with the sensor.

13. Agrobot SW6010

Agrobot SW6010 is a tractor-like robot. This machine uses sensors and robotic arms to detect and pick ripe berries with alarming speed and efficiency. Sensors on the robotic arms can actually tell which berries are ripe and not based on the unpicked berry’s shape and size. It packs them in boxes!

14. Cucumber Harvester

Cucumber Harvester is a smart robot that can spot and pick ripe cucumbers on the vine. In 1996, research began on the development of an autonomous cucumber harvesting robot supported by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. The robot detects individual cucumbers, assesses maturity and harvests ripe cucumbers. The project was completed in 2002."

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SOURCE LINK: https://roboticsbiz.com/top-14-agricultural-robots-for-harvesting-and-nursery/

"Baiju NT is a journalist, digital & content marketeer. He is the founder and editor in chief of RoboticsBiz. A post graduate in Philosophy and Journalism, Baiju is also the founder of Big Data Made Simple, leading tech portal in Big Data, Data Analytics, BI, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Science landscape. He has been in the media & content business for the past 12 years and worked for a variety of media houses, both digital and print. A fitness freak. Basketball coach. And he loves Physics and Philosophy."