“AI powered tethered drones picking apples 🤯
These drones use AI image recognition models to determine ripeness and sugar levels in the apples.
Then they use a little arm to pick them.
AI & robotics will completely revolutionize the agriculture industry.”
Odd that tethered drones would be preferable over a robotic arm attached to the same cart?
Precise robot arm control is a surprisingly hard problem. I can see some advantages to being able to move freely in 3D
And you’d still have to maneuver the truck more with the arm. With the tethered drone, they could pull up to a tree and take on three-ish trees from one spot.
Sounds interesting but is there somewhere aside from that garbage website I can read about this?
https://spectrum.ieee.org/video-friday
I’ll try not to post links to the birdsite again.
Thanks!
Do you know this project? https://www.twistedfields.com/copy-of-research
It’s the most solarpunk of the ag robots I know of.
Cool stuff. I worked on a farm that had a converted solar tractor at one point.
But what I’m envisioning is more like Boston dynamics style robotics in a small package that can climb and/or fly. This will allow harvesting taller tree crops in a way that is essentially impossible today. But it may be a while before that technology is cheap and accessible enough for small-scale actors to develop these types of tools. The powers that be won’t pursue something that radical.