The digital landscape – robots in harvesting
While self-driving cars on the road are still a long way off, things seem to be moving faster in the agricultural sector. Drones, robots and autonomous tractors are already being used for planting and harvesting. We show what this looks like.
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00:00 This is what it looks like when robots harvest fruit.
00:05 They could already be used now.
00:08 They pick much faster than human beings.
00:10 We have a massive labor problem at farming.
00:15 Startups in Asia, Europe, Canada and the US are springing up and developing machines that will be the farmers' helpers of the future.
00:25 These picking robots work fantastically. The machine doesn't get tired.
00:30 The machine doesn't make any careless mistakes.
00:33 And the machine's fitness doesn't change from day to day.
00:36 It's always the same and if the settings are right, it works.
00:41 This strawberry harvesting robot is being used in Florida.
00:45 A prototype that is still in the test phase.
00:48 Until now, harvest workers from Mexico have picked the strawberries.
00:53 I can tell you it's a very hard job and the fields need to be picked every three days.
00:59 So the rule of thumb has always been you need one person per acre.
01:03 So now with thousands of acres, you need thousands of people.
01:10 But in the last 20 years, fewer and fewer workers have been available and the berries haven't been picked.
01:16 The farmer has suffered huge losses.
01:19 But necessity is the mother of invention.
01:21 He hired a robotics engineer.
01:23 Together, they developed a harvesting machine.
01:26 It costs $700,000.
01:28 But the farmers don't have to buy it.
01:30 They borrow it for harvesting.
01:32 The robot navigates autonomously through the rows.
01:36 It's able to distinguish between humans and objects with the help of lasers.
01:40 We've got a number of patents.
01:42 One of them is this patent that has a station keeping patent, which we're able to hold the position of the robotic picking deck while the machine continues to move at a slow pace.
01:56 This wheel has a series of claws on it where the robots pick the berry, the wheel spins, and another claw presents itself to pick the next berry.
02:09 So we can go around a plant much faster and get to commercial speed because we can pick, pick, pick versus pick, move, pick, move.
02:18 Robot technology is also being perfected in Europe.
02:23 A Dutch company has invented a machine that makes harvesting asparagus faster and more efficient.
02:29 This autonomous tractor for soil conservation is also designed to make work easier.
02:35 It could work completely independently, day and night.
02:38 One full tank of gas is enough, but so far the farmer is still close to his machine and can intervene in case it malfunctions.
02:47 During the harvest, they have 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 hour days for a few weeks in a row.
02:57 It has been the case for decades that many occupations outside of farming have been much more attractive.
03:03 And since then, certain family constraints have no longer existed and farmer's heirs have been able to say,
03:09 "No, Dad, I'm not taking over the farm and you'll just be the last in a long line."
03:13 So does the future lie in smart farming?
03:17 The development of agricultural machinery is often more advanced than that of autonomous cars.
03:23 This is because much stricter rules apply to road traffic.
03:29 In farming especially, we've been driving autonomously since 2003, for instance.
03:34 And that's correct. It's forbidden on the road.
03:38 We're not allowed to use these systems there.
03:41 But in the field we're allowed to, and the accuracy of the guidance is about, let's say, 2 to 5 centimeters.
03:54 The machines are not allowed to drive on their own in Germany or elsewhere in Europe, nor in the US or Canada.
04:00 This is because there are still few legal regulations.
04:03 A human being must still always be present.
04:07 This is because the risks of accidents are too great for large autonomous tractors with over 300 horsepower and 12 tons of weight, for example.
04:18 At the moment, the legislature doesn't distinguish between an autonomous machine or a machine that is simply a machine, as the term is not defined by law.
04:27 Perhaps manufacturers are simply lacking a bit of clarity.
04:31 They would need a bit more backing from the legislature in order to have clarity as to whether they are really safe enough with this solution.
04:40 To ensure that no humans or animals are injured, autonomous machines in the field must be equipped with GPS, infrared camera systems, heat sensors, and distance measurement sensors, which can recognize the environment.
04:55 This small solar cell-powered robot moves slowly across the field, weeding, a job that would otherwise require up to 20 helpers.
05:06 Organic farmers use it to save on pesticides.
05:09 It could also be further developed for fertilizing, spraying, and planting.
05:13 It may soon be impossible to imagine harvesting fields without robots.
05:24 Is this the future of farming?
05:27 (upbeat music)