It has been reported by Level Aerobatics Technologies that there is a severe shortage of workers who are needed to pick fruit at orchards, which is what prompted them to develop the Tevel FAR drone. The Flying Autonomous Robots (FARs) consists of a base vehicle that will traverse up and down rows of fruit trees and work with a series of four drones to pick fruit directly from the trees. The drones utilize artificial intelligence (AI)-baed technology thanks to onboard cameras to pinpoint ripe fruit that's suitable for being harvested.
The Tevel FAR drone isn't available for commercial implementation yet, but is set to be utilized later this year in a series of pilot projects at apple orchards in Italy, Spain and the US.
Flying Fruit-Harvesting Drones
The Tevel FAR Drone Helps to Fill in for a Lack of Human Workers
Trend Themes
1. Fruit Harvesting Drones - There is an opportunity for drone manufacturers to develop specialized drones for harvesting different types of crops besides fruit.
2. AI-based Technology - There is an opportunity for AI developers to create algorithms that can detect various crops and determine if they are ripe for harvesting based on specific criteria.
3. Autonomous Robotics - There is an opportunity for robotics companies to develop autonomous robots with the ability to work in a farm environment and to perform the picking process on their own.
Industry Implications
1. Agriculture - The use of drones in agriculture could expand to areas beyond harvesting, such as monitoring crop health, irrigation, and fertilizer application.
2. Drone Manufacturing - The manufacture of specialized drones for precision farming and crop harvesting could be a disruptive innovation opportunity for drone manufacturers.
3. AI Development - The development of AI algorithms that can accurately detect and harvest different types of crops can be a disruptive innovation opportunity for developers and technology companies in the agriculture industry.