![]() That frees up time and resources to focus on those jobs that require human involvement. "Technology allows robots to take over an ever-increasing number of many cultivation company tasks. It's a long, difficult process, but it's coming along." The robots have to be attractively priced, too, before growers will use them. I doubt that will ever happen, but it's up to us to get close. Thus, harvesting robots are nowhere near as fast as humans. ![]() "Those involving little to no human work but less on the 'smaller' tasks. Still, most research focuses on innovations in only certain areas," says From. Plus, many prototypes leave much to be desired, quality-wise. ![]() Why is it taking so long to develop a strawberry harvesting robot? "The biggest reason is simply that robots are still too slow compared to humans. But, that's something that's far out of reach when it comes to harvesting strawberries," says Pål Johan. The robots can drive themselves through the tunnels or fields. So for crop protection, we're at that point where robots can take the work completely out of the growers' hands. "However, that requires plenty of work and patience. As the robots work, they continually collect data which is used to develop AI to make the robots safer." Our robot's high frequency and reliability have since allowed us to build a reliable reputation with our crop protection partners. It uses UV radiation for crop protection. "We went through a trial and error phase with our autonomous, sustainable field robot. Many companies are, thus, not focusing on the simple, repetitive work they're trying to use robots to solve the 'more difficult' problems," explains From. Still, it remains challenging: many robots aren't yet mature or reliable enough for use. "That's why start-ups are springing up like mushrooms. People increasingly realize that this is needed." "The strawberry sector, however, uses almost no robots. Saga Robotics, founded in 2016, has been working on the 'Thorvald.' A team is designing a wide range of tools for this field robot, with the current focus being on developing a UV treatment against powdery mildew in strawberries and wine grapes. The Robot Highways project has estimated that robots could eventually help reduce the number of human farm workers needed by as much as 40%. Aside from finding laborers for growers, robotization plays an essential part. We have to find a solution," From continues. "Plus, job agencies have to increasingly deal with food industry workers having 'boring, repetitive' tasks. That means we have to produce more food with fewer available resources." "The world population also continues to increase annually. Cultivation prices are constantly rising, manure is getting pricier, energy costs are skyrocketing, and more expensive, but especially scarce labor is causing many problems. The current macroeconomic situation creates many challenges for the strawberry sector. Yet, in some areas, regularly using robots is still a long way off. There, From, founder of Norway's Saga Robotics, gave participants a peak at the future of robotization and described its need. So too, at the International Strawberry Congress 2022. With the problems the strawberry and virtually all sectors currently face, the focus is increasingly on automation and robotization. "Robots will play a vital role in agriculture's future," says Pål Johan From.
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