Waikato researchers have used robots to revolutionise agriculture, harvesting asparagus, pruning vines, and surveying kiwifruit orchards.
Researchers from the University of Waikato’s School of Engineering and School of Computing and Mathematical Science are working with industry partners, growers and other institutions to develop high-tech robots to challenges facing the horticultural industry.
The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated skilled labour shortages in many primary industries, with border restrictions leading to a depleted workforce.
Other challenges, including more severe weather events due to climate change and increased regulatory requirements, have put pressure on growers in New Zealand and around the world.
Technology is the solution, and researchers at Waikato have developed agrirobots to support the agricultural industry - with some of them ready for commercialisation.
“New Zealand is considered a world leader in agricultural innovation, and I believe that we can demonstrate that and have an edge using ag robots here at Waikato,” said Dr Shen Hin Lim, Senior Lecturer in Mechatronics and Mechanical Engineering.
Robots developed by Waikato researchers include an autonomous asparagus harvester, a human-assist grape vine pruner, an apple fruitlet thinning robot, a kiwifruit orchard survey robot, and other robots designed to harvest blueberries, apples, rock melons and kiwifruit.
Automating repetitive, labour-intensive tasks offers a sustainable solution to the industry, freeing people up to do other jobs.
“It’s not just that it’s back-breaking work, it’s difficult to find enough workers, and that was even before Covid-19,” said Dr Lim.
Born in Malaysia, Dr Lim studied mechatronics engineering at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, before joining the University of Waikato in 2015. He is also chair of NZ Robotics Automation and Sensing (NZRAS).
Dr Lim and his team are behind the creation of a world-first autonomous asparagus harvester, developed in collaboration with growers, the New Zealand Asparagus Council and Robotics Plus, with the support of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Callaghan Innovation.
The robot’s vision system detects asparagus spears, computes their base location, and if tall enough to harvest, uses a robotic arm to cut the spear as the robot passes over. The technology also gathers yield data, and has potential add-ons for packing and weeding.
The project recently secured NZD 5.8 million in funding for commercialisation following successful field trials in the USA and New Zealand.
This could be a game-changer for the asparagus industry, where half the cost of producing asparagus is labour, according to the New Zealand Asparagus Council.
Approximately 1,900 tonnes of asparagus is produced each year in New Zealand, valued at around NZD9.1 million, most consumed domestically.
With fresh asparagus the fastest-growing fresh market vegetable per capita consumption in North America, forecasted to reach USD 30 billion by 2027, the opportunity for growers to ramp up production to reach this export market is significant.
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