Florida citrus picking

Energid Technologies, a US-based specialist in robotics software, products and support, has been charged by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the task of developing a commercial robotic citrus harvesting system.

According to the group, it has received two-year funding for the development of a new automation system following a demonstration of the viability of its approach through a proof-of-concept effort that relies on new robotic technologies.

'Technological innovation is the way forward for the US citrus industry,' said James English, chief technical officer at Energid Technologies. 'The way we compete, the way we excel, is through technology and efficiency.'

Energid noted that most past attempts at automated harvesting have focused on conventional robotics, multi-link arms or bulk removal, with the group looking to combine the best attributes of both approaches by using a large number of low-cost robotic mechanisms for fruit removal.

'Imagine a flexible picking mechanism that shoots out to remove and orange like a frog's tongue catching a fly,' said Dr Chu-Yin Chang, principal engineer at Energid Technologies. 'Now line up tens or even hundreds of these. That is the system we are developing.

'The citrus-harvesting robotic system is using the full range of our technologies,' Dr Chang added.

In the 2009 season, 12m tonnes of citrus were harvested in the US, of which some 3.5 per cent were removed through shaking. The rest, approximately 50bn individual fruits, had to be picked by hand, often in adverse weather and from ladders.

According to Energid, the difficulties presented leave US growers at a disadvantage in the world market due to higher salary and support costs, adding to problems such as outbreaks of citrus greening and citrus canker disease.