The Israeli company Tevel has offered an advanced solution to the problem associated with a shortage of workers during the fruit harvest. These are robotic platforms with artificial intelligence. AI controls flying drones powered by a wired platform. Drones scurry among the branches and choose only ripe fruits without signs of damage. The collection of apples, pears, plums, peaches, etc. is carried out without the participation of people at all stages. This is the future of farming, the developers say.

The trained machine intelligence analyzes the appearance of the fruit for each individual species and gives the command to eat the fruit only if it is of the required ripeness and without damage. The operation of the platform on an experimental farm greatly reduces the cost of harvesting, allowing you to choose only the best quality fruits for each pass, NewAtlas writes.

Wired power makes it possible for flying collecting drones to work as long as the platform itself receives power. If the platform is powered by a power cable, then the work can continue indefinitely and, possibly, even in the dark. There are no special obstacles in this — it is enough just to adjust the filters correctly for the current lighting.

Drones capture the fruit with an air suction cup, which minimizes damage to fruits, even the most delicate, such as peach or nectarine. The drones lay the plucked fruits on the platform tape, and from it the fruits fall into containers for transportation to the packaging company.

Tevel expects that the robot will gain recognition among farmers. However, the proposed autonomous solution for apple picking requires special planting and shaping of the garden, so drones are - for now - limited by the length of the supply cable. And yet, if this type of work is carried out without involving people, it can lead to lower prices for products and to an increase in their quality.

In addition, robots also serve as data agents, constantly collecting and reporting a wide range of information about each fruit they collect. This feature allows farmers to receive comprehensive real-time data on the total amount of harvested crops, the size of individual fruits, weight, timestamp, maturity level, disease detection and much more. The advantages of the platform have already been appreciated by farmers and gardeners in Italy, the USA and Chile.

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