The farming robots that will feed the world | Hard Reset

Food waste is a ridiculous problem. Enter the robots.

The agricultural industry is no stranger to automation. Robotics was first introduced into the industry to help guide vehicles in the 1920s, and it's now common for farmers to use GPS-guided planters, sprayers, and combines, not to mention the wide array of automated machines used elsewhere in the agricultural supply chain.

But there's one job that has been prohibitively difficult for robots: picking soft fruit. It requires a delicate and dexterous touch, as well as the ability to maneuver around the plants so that the fruit can be accessed from the best angle.

The UK-based startup Dogtooth Technologies is developing robots with just such abilities. What's more, the robots are able to gently pick berries at night and then deliver them to a chamber where the fruit can be inspected for defects. Freethink explores Dogtooth Technologies and the future of robot farming in this episode of Hard Reset.

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Read more of our stories on the future of agriculture:
Supermarket uses hydroponic farm to grow veggies onsite
3 ways autonomous farming is driving a new era of agriculture
Innovative vertical farming companies to watch
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Watch our original series:

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About Freethink
No politics, no gossip, no cynics. At Freethink, we believe the daily news should inspire people to build a better world. While most media is fueled by toxic politics and negativity, we focus on solutions: the smartest people, the biggest ideas, and the most ground breaking technology shaping our future.
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[ropro]

It's ironic that strawberries to be picked by humans are grown on the ground but strawberries to be picked by robots are grown at a more convenient and less back breaking waist level.

[garethbaus]

Picking soft fruit is a significant fraction of the labor used in agriculture specifically because it was one of the few tasks we couldn't automate. On a completely different note the managers at my work have been talking about installing a robot to automate a task.

[the_j_brett]

You cant recruit enough people or you dont want to pay people because it cuts into your profits? Strawberry farms around here expect people to pick their strawberries for free then charge them for the berries.

[Delosian]

Here in New Zealand we desperately need something like this for apples, pears, kiwifruit, among many other fruits. We now grow so much that we need a huge migrant workforce to fly in, work for several months, and then fly home.

[HandSolitude]

The cost of labour in Morocco is $300 USD per month. You cannot run a robot for that little. The rubbish problem could easily be solved by reducing corruption and funding public cleanup with government money rather than lining the pockets of their politicians.

[cob]

"getting harder and harder to find the human labor we need"
Sure, when you offer poverty wages so low that only desperate overseas foreign workers will take the jobs

[bige]

I used to work putting out produce in a grocery store. We had pride in our work, stacking fruit into pyramids with care so that they don’t fall down or get bruised in the process. At the end of this video, I started thinking about utilizing a robot like this in such a scenario, where we set up the open boxes and then the robots stack the fruit overnight while we are sleeping. We check it in the morning. Why not?

[TheTarrMan]

Those robots could also laser bugs to remove the need for pesticides.
To reduce water usage they could also be used to deliver it more precisely. Maybe it will even decide to skip some plants that don't need it.

[gc]

"It's getting harder and harder to find the human labor we need" What I hear: "Workers demand reasonable wages and large farm corps won't pay."

[BJL]

I love it when ceo and execs who make massive incomes off the backs of the pickers are left holding the bags and feel like it's a catastrophe, almost like the employees they take advantage of who have their life costs to pay but can't because of the profiteering off their work done.

[MustPassTruck]

Our greatest problem is the imbalance in how much people are paid for basic labor vs oligarchs and politicrats.

[queenscarletc.]

"Its getting harder and harder to find people to pick these strawberries"
-- Thats a HILARIOUS way to say, companies dont want to pay enough people enough money to do the labor required.

[ocmetals]

Automation is great, it's not the problem. The problem is centralization of the benefits. If we can figure out how to decentralize and disperse the benefits of tech, then the future is bright.

[muscleman]

It's because your jobs suck.. no incentive, low pay, no insurance etc etc. People are tired of working their lives away for peanuts and no advancement. They would rather be broke at home vs broke at work.

[pspreng]

This looks like it could be a good fit for separating plastic containers by the methods for recycling needed at city garbage disposal plants.

[TurdUnicorns]

These videos are amazing, better than some official news agencies. AND ACTUALLY INTERESTING TOPICS!!! Y’all are too underrated 😢

[tabsterg]

I love how every time there's an agricultural breakthrough people say stuff like _"this (new tech) will feed the world!!!"_ as if we don't already produce enough food to end world hunger but still throw a perfectly edible most of it into landfills or cows for profit. like our tech and resources and knowledge and labour has already conquered scarcity, it just profits no-one to actually help people in need.
This robots will make it cheaper for _some_ to produce more food, it won't make it cheaper or more available.

[rihadalif]

_"I'll be using metric system when I buy drugs"_
_"Never bought a kilo of drugs just to be clear"_
Hmmmm....

[anotherboredperson]

"Inability to recruit enough pickers" sounds an awful lot like "wont pay a living wage"

[cominoengenharia]

Will they really feed 'the world', or as usual, feed the 'market world'?

How will the people who are losing their work be fed? Will the workers of the world have ways of feeding their families?

These are not rethorical questions, but propositions to include in the process of advancing technology.