Next month, the Belgian company, Octinion, hopes to present a functioning prototype of their newly developed strawberry picking robot. “There’s some urgency for robots,” says Tom Coen from Octinion during the Global Berry Congress. Rising labour costs and the shortage of labour are the most important motives for the robotisation, he explains.
“Because of Brexit, a shortage of labour is imminent in the UK,” Tom says. “In California, a law was accepted to increase the minimum wage in the coming years.” In 2022, the minimum wage will have increased by 50 per cent. “Cheap labour isn’t the competition advantage of growers in California. It’s the size of the fruit,” Tom knows. On balance, the average picker in California and Europe pick the same amount of strawberries. Because of the larger fruits, however, the yields of a picker in California are much higher.
The first design of the picking robot.
At first, Octinion focused mostly on the European market, and more specifically, on rack cultivation. “We believe that this would have many benefits. When robotising outdoor cultivation, people would lose the advantages of this cultivation: space and infrastructure.” To let a robot move between the plants, they would have to be planted further apart. The plant closeness is one of the advantages of outdoor cultivation. After a demo was presented in September last year, it turned out there was much interest from the US. Remarkable, because the US mostly has outdoor cultivation. “We have noticed that much is being invested in rack cultivation in the US.”
Tom Coen from Octinion.
The robot can actually be used anywhere, although it’s advisable to bear in mind a number of factors for an optimum result. The paths between the racks should all be the same width. A free space underneath the racks is an advantage, and if there are rails, these could also be used. There are no limits as to varieties. In theory, all strawberries should be pickable. However, Tom comments that some varieties can be picked by the robot more easily than others. Distance between the strawberries and length of the stem play their part in that, among other things.
After a functioning prototype has been presented next month, tests should be started after the summer. If everything goes according to plan, next year will see a robot that picks a strawberry every three seconds. “We want the picking robot to be competitive in costs. We are also thinking about the option to pay per picked strawberry, for example, so that the investment would be lower and the robot would be more attractive to small growers.”