Collaborative robots around urban farms

Collaborative robots are doing more tasks in the agricultural setting today. With their advanced capabilities, cobots are finding a place in urban farms, working with farmers with such tasks as pollination and harvesting delicate fruits like strawberries. FoodPacific Manufacturing Journal asked  James McKew, the Regional Director of Asia-Pacific in Universal Robots on how the latest cobots are now complementing the work of urban farmers in places like Singapore.

How are cobots ideal for tasks like harvesting and pollination?

As modern agriculture is becoming digitalised, more automation will be observed in urban farming. The harvesting and pollination processes often require a soft touch to handle the delicate flowers and fruits. However, these processes are a challenge for humans as a high level of concentration and precision are required to conduct such activities. Additionally, urban farmers cannot afford to have such errors which lead to a reduction in output and yield. Hence, collaborative robots or “cobots” have become an ideal solution to automate the harvesting and pollination processes. Unlike the large and bulky traditional industrial robots, cobots are lightweight, versatile and flexible. One of the key features of cobots is its capability to work alongside human workers without safety cages (upon risk assessment), giving manufacturers the best of both humans and robots combined. These cobots can perform tasks effortlessly and repeatedly with a consistent throughput without compromising on quality standards.

How is labour divided between cobot and urban farmer? 

All cobots from Universal Robots (UR) are designed to work in close proximity with human workers, addressing safety concerns in the workplace environment. Typically, most urban farmers do not have the luxury to implement robots that require large conventional spaces. Hence, compact cobots are an option for them.

For Singrow, a developer of innovative agri-tech solutions for producing fruits and vegetables, a UR3 cobot was deployed to automate pollination and harvesting in their strawberry farming. The UR3 cobot is a smaller collaborative table-top robot, perfect for light assembly tasks and automated workbench scenarios. UR3 cobot is designed in a compact form and its small footprint makes it a good fit for tight workspaces like the strawberry farm at Singrow. While the cobots take over the repetitive and strenuous tasks, human employees are relieved to work on better and more exciting tasks. Human employees can then move forward to manage more important tasks that require cognitive and social talents. 

Continue reading this report which talks about how cobots fit in sustainable agriculture and so far the benefits of automation in urban fruit and vegetable farms.