Automating the Thinning of Peach Orchards

Researchers at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), led by Ai-Ping Hu, have developed an autonomous robot that can perform thinning of peach trees to produce bigger, sweeter, and healthier peaches.

Key features:

• LIDAR sensing system along with GPS is used for obstacle avoidance and navigation of the robot through the peach orchard
• a 3D camera is used to identify the peachlets that should be removed
• the end-effector is a claw-like device suitable for picking
• AI and deep learning methods can be utilized to enhance robot’s image classification capabilities

More information:

• https://www.gtri.gatech.edu/