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Start-ups and industrial giants are racing to create new machines that will boost food production and farm profitability. In 2017, investors ploughed more than $700m into agritech companies, more than double the previous year. Start-ups, venture capital funds, and big agricultural companies are bringing robots to bear on some of the thorniest problems in farming.
At this point, there are two main types of agricultural robots in development, those that help farmers reduce inputs, such as herbicides, pesticides, or fertiliser, and those that seek to replace farm workers by using machines to harvest crops of various types. Some technologies, like auto-steering tractors and remote controlled spraying helicopters, are already quite common. Drones are also used to inspect fields and herd animals. One type of robot in its early days of commercialisation can mechanically weed fields, therefore, diminishing the use of chemical herbicides.
But fruit-picking robots are further out from commercialisation. Fruits and vegetables do not grow in uniform sizes or ripen at the same rate. Plus, it's hard to make a robot arm with enough dexterity and suppleness to not bruise or cut the fruit. Often, the more sensors and cameras stuffed into a robot to improve its performance, the more fragile and unsuited it becomes to operate reliably amid dust, dirt, wind, and a variety of temperatures.
Companies are attacking the fruit-picking problem in different ways, ranging from a strawberry picking machine with 16 arms, to robotic arms mounted on mobile platforms. At this point, robots are neither fast enough nor cheap enough to replace farm workers, but with investment flowing into a variety of technologies, the way we farm is sure to change.
