Zenbird Editorial TeamAGRIST Inc., a company promoting smart agriculture, has announced promising results from a demonstration of its AI-powered cucumber harvesting robot, developed to address Japan’s severe agricultural labour shortage. In a joint project with the Miyazaki City, the robot achieved a 55% harvest rate in soil-based cultivation fields, showing significant technological potential.
The project aimed to identify the feasibility and challenges of introducing the robot to soil-based cultivation fields and to gain practical knowledge for its future adoption. The 55% harvest rate represents a substantial improvement over initial models and confirms the robot’s autonomous harvesting capabilities.
During the trials, a key challenge identified was a decrease in cucumber visibility and harvest rate as the plants grew and their leaves became denser. This finding now serves as a critical development guideline for improving the robot for practical use. The project also yielded valuable data on the specific field conditions required for the robot’s operation, such as aisle width and greenhouse height, as well as the labour involved in installing and removing necessary equipment like rails.
Based on these findings, AGRIST has outlined a clear development roadmap. The company will accelerate improvements, with the first phase of enhancements to the current model, including better arm movement and reduced scissor errors, set for January 2025. A second phase, focusing on improved crop recognition, will follow in October 2025. These upgrades will be incorporated into a next-generation model scheduled for release at the end of October 2025.
The company stated that addressing the issue of reduced visibility from dense foliage is its highest priority, and plans to use the findings from the Miyazaki project to help solve harvesting challenges on farms.
[Reference] AGRIST Press Release (Japanese)
