Here is a vegetable picking robot that uses machine to harvest lettuce. The Vegebot, developed by a team at the University of Cambridge, identifies the target crop with its camera and cuts the lettuce from the rest of the plant without crushing it.
The robot uses an overhead camera to take an image of the lettuce field. It analyzes the image to detect whether the lettuces in the image are ready to be harvested. As the researchers explain:
A second camera on the Vegebot is positioned near the cutting blade and helps ensure a smooth cut. The researchers were also able to adjust the pressure in the robot’s gripping arm so that it held the lettuce firmly enough not to drop it, but not so firm as to crush it. The force of the grip can be adjusted for other crops.
[HT]
