Image credit : Designboom
Agrist, a Japanese robotics company, has addressed the shortage of farm workers in Japan by introducing a pepper-picking robot named L. This innovative robot, recognized with an Innovation Award at CES, operates on thick overhead wires, resembling a horizontal gondola, rather than using wheels or legs.
Equipped with multiple cameras and an AI-based computer vision algorithm, L navigates between rows of bell pepper plants, identifying ripe peppers hidden among the foliage.
Once a ripe pepper is detected, L extends its single arm and employs a specialized picking tool to grip the pepper, cut through its stem, and deposit it into an onboard storage compartment.
To prevent overfilling, the robot periodically pauses above a separate basket and opens the compartment’s bottom, allowing the collected peppers to drop into the basket for retrieval by human workers.
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L is designed to work continuously for up to 12 hours a day, utilizing daylight for visibility. Its power source consists of two batteries that can be quickly exchanged with fully charged ones when their energy levels decline.
