Agri-tech start-up Xihelm is the first UK company to commercially harvest vine tomatoes using robots in an indoor greenhouse.
Xihelm has developed an AI-powered robotic harvester for glasshouse fruit and vegetables that aims to assist farmers with labour shortages.
The company said selective automation offers growers better control of risks, as robots are hygienic, always available and perform consistently. It added by deploying autonomous harvesting robots, a business can meet production demands while up-skilling its labour force into other disciplines such as crop management and agronomy.
According to founder James Kent, the start-up aims to “build a business with the latest technology that could potentially change the world”.
Its Eagle robot features a robotic arm directed by their own data engine. The system combines computer vision with the 3D AI data engine, which can collect nearly 300 variables during each harvesting system.
The robotic harvest has been designed to understand whether fruits are ripe, as well as recognising and reporting early signs of crop disease.
Charmay Prout, managing director, Flavourfresh Salads, said: “Robots are a key defence in the prevention of pests, and diseases such tomato brown rugose fruit virus, because their precision cameras identify symptoms quicker and more accurately than the human eye. We think robotics is where the industry is going.”
Eagle has been deployed at the Melrow nursey in Merseyside, owned by Flavourfresh, since last year.
Prout added: “We see it as a tool to enable us to better operate our business and give us information we haven’t had before, which would actually transform the way in which we harvest and grow our crops.”
The company will now carry out trials in Holland. Its future ambition is to eliminate laborious handwork from greenhouses by 2028.
