"Robocrop"

A new version of the world’s first raspberry-picking robot, a four-armed machine powered by artificial intelligence and able to do the job at the speed and effectiveness of a human, is to be employed on farms in the UK, Australia and Portugal over the coming 12 months.

The developers claim that Fieldworker 1, nicknamed Robocrop, can detect more accurately than previous models whether a berry is ripe, and can pick fruit faster because its grippers have greater reach and flexibility...

 “It has superhuman vision capabilities, and what we’re doing with that is detecting the spectral frequency of the state of berry ripeness,” said David Fulton, chief executive of Fieldwork Robotics. “Depending on the state of the berry ripeness, it emits a particular spectral range that allows us to get improved accuracy.”..

Moving along rows of bushes, the wheeled machine’s four arms pick berries simultaneously and drop them into punnets, ready to be transported to supermarkets. The robot, close to 2m tall, can now harvest between 150 and 300 berries (more than 2kg) an hour – the same rate as a human picker – but can run day and night.

Automation in farm fields is nothing new; I'm sure I've blogged laser-wielding drones zapping weeds.  This one I'm adding because of its clever nickname.