Fieldwork Robotics has launched the Fieldworker 1. The company’s latest robot model is designed to harvest at the same pace as human pickers and is able to work both day and night.
This robot is the world’s first raspberry-picking robot. It is a four-armed model that is powered by artificial intelligence. Fieldworker 1’s advanced technology can detect berry ripeness and a heightened picking speed.
A built-in camera spots berries, after which the arms shift towards them, and two additional cameras at the tips of each arm calculate the precise location. Finally, a cup consisting of a soft, expandable layer rises to pick fresh fruit from the plant.
The Fieldworker 1 robot is built on the Innovative UK-based Berry Bot and Berry 1 projects. The new robot allows farmers to have a predictable cost per berry harvested ratio, allowing them to reduce or redeploy human labour while managing operational cost and profit margins.
Martin Stølen, who founded Fieldwork Robotics in 2016 while teaching robotics at Plymouth University, is the mastermind behind Robocrop and currently serves as the company’s Chief Science Officer.
The robot has spectral frequency that removes any human bias from its analysis of berries, and the expectation on harvesting will be more volume without affecting the quality. It will also have the capacity to work in a fleet, with one operator controlling multiple robots across the field. Fieldwork studies indicated that this will reduce the labour intensity of harvesting processes as well as improving harvesting time.
Fieldwork also made an announcement that it will be working with Costa Group, a major producer in Australia of fresh fruits and vegetables. The deal will foresee robots deployed for trials at Costa berry farms over the year, and are anticipated to take place in the first quarter of 2025.
This new relationship with Costa shows a continued and growing interest in Fieldwork’s technology from customers across the globe.
Main Image: fieldworkrobotics.com
