‘AGRIST’ agricultural harvest robots uses artificial intelligence to allow farmers to automatically harvest crops and fruits

Japanese company AGRIST is developing a farm robot that seeks to solve the problem of labor shortage in agricultural harvesting. Developed in collaboration with the farmers of Shintomi town, Miyazaki prefecture, where agriculture is flourishing, the automatic bell pepper harvesting robot L weighs 16kg and can operate continuously for four hours with one battery charge.

AGRIST Co., Ltd. is a venture company that solves agricultural problems with technology.It’s robot are used for harvesting agricultural products automatically using AI.

Contrary to most existing robots in the sector, which run on the ground, L moves on a wire that is installed inside the greenhouse. this eliminates the need for a rail on the ground and allows for a simplified construction and easier overall operation.

the automatic harvesting robot is part of AGRIST and the local farmers’ joint research on new agricultural methods (cultivation methods, tailoring methods, etc.) that incorporate robots. complete with artificial intelligence technology, L collects and accumulates image data of green peppers in various states. in this way, AI aims to provide services that analyze the data in the future, warn of diseases and predict the yield.

The bell pepper automatic harvesting robot “L” is responsible for part of the “harvesting work” that requires a lot of labor among agricultural work, reducing labor and harvesting bell peppers that could not be harvested until now. , contributes to increased profitability. In addition, by using a camera that is used during harvesting to monitor the state of crops and patrol them, we will be able to visualize areas that until now have relied on human intuition and experience, and realize reproducible agriculture. increase.

Hanging type that travels on wires

A hanging system is adopted for moving inside the house where the ground is uneven. The robot hangs like a ropeway on wires that are stretched around the inside of the greenhouse, and by moving, harvesting work can be performed without being affected by the ground.

Combine cameras to improve harvesting accuracy

Harvesting efficiency and accuracy are improved by combining multiple cameras, such as a camera that looks at the whole and grasps the approximate position and a camera that accurately sees the part to be cut. In addition, AI will be used to identify and harvest harvestable peppers.

Reproduce the double cutting (*1) at the time of harvesting

The harvesting method using a belt reproduces the double cutting at the time of harvesting.

*1 Double cutting: When harvesting, cutting is done twice, once to separate the fruit from the tree and once to shorten the fruit stalk near the fruit. The part that corresponds to the stem becomes hard over time, so if you cut it just the first time, it will damage other peppers when you put them in a container or bag. For that reason, I cut the peppers again near the fruit (cutting twice) so that the peppers do not hurt each other.

Designing the future of agriculture We will
solve the problem of labor shortage in agriculture with automatic harvesting robots, and furthermore, we will create highly reproducible and profitable agriculture using automatic harvesting robots, contributing to next-generation agriculture. In the future, Agristo will become a farmer and practice agriculture using technology. In addition to developing automatic harvesting robots, Agrist will design the future of new agriculture by developing cultivation environments suitable for robots.

https://agrist.com/