Oxbo Raspberry & Blueberry Harvesters
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN cites it as evidence that commercial berry harvesting is done by mechanical shaking and agitation, in contrast to slow picking robots.
What it is
A promotional video from Oxbo showing its blueberry and raspberry harvesting machines in operation. It demonstrates mechanical berry harvesting at commercial scale.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2017 to 2020.
What Hacker News said
Cites drc37 · 2017-01 · on “Ask HN: What's happening in agricultural technology?”
I am currently working for a fertilizer company. First off, I have never worked in the Ag industry until a few years ago. It's an interesting business plagued by snake oil salesmen who try to push every whacky idea they can dream up. Our company is very focused on the science of the plants and the soil and have developed products that do some amazing things with plants. We have seen potato fields go without pesticides by using one of our products that uses an extract from another plant. It doesn't kill the bugs, but makes the plants not desirable to the bugs. Plant physiology is still in its infancy. Plants are very much like the human body and so many respects (immune system, nutrient requi
Cites Animats · 2019-05 · on “Robocrop: world's first raspberry-picking robot set to work”
Yes. This is an academic prototype. And it's really, really slow.[1] There are much better robotic fruit pickers.[2][3]. And the commercial ones that do this entirely by mechanical means.[4] [1] [LINK] [2] [LINK] [3] [LINK] [4] [this video]
Cites contingencies · 2019-05 · on “Robocrop: world's first raspberry-picking robot set to work”
1 = Raspberries outdoor. Camera and two-finger gripper + pull. 2 = Apples outdoor. Camera and three-finger gripper + twist + pull 3 = Strawberries indoor/outdoor. Camera and two-finger gripper + pull. 4 = Blueberries + raspberries outdoor. Multiple general agitator designs + fall. (see [this video] ) I think the fourth is the only honestly commercially viable option. However, it's never going to work with most fruit, because it relies upon general agitation to disconnect the fruit. Additionally, all of the solutions require neatly cropped rows. Whereas, the promise of robotics is that it will allow intercropping which creates more productive land with a stronger and more natural ecosystem, reduci
Cites dehrmann · 2020-09 · on “Indian robot climbs trees to harvest coconuts”
I think only olives are harvested like that. Table (i.e. non-juice) apples are too fragile to knock to the ground. For berries, [this video] . Strawberries are different because they're practically on the ground. Not to discount your point. Coconuts don't work like any of these.