Tree Robotic Equipment with Enhanced Advanced Intelligence (TREEAI)

Several tasks, such as pruning, fruitlet thinning, and harvesting (SDG2), in the orchard are still performed manually. These tasks require a considerable number of seasonal laborers and involve an extensive workload (SDG8). Another opportunity lies in flower thinning, which is currently performed using chemicals (SDG15). Robots can offer solutions that allow for greater precision in this process. Due to the shortage of skilled workers, immigrants are often hired and trained on the job, which reduces the overall quality of the work performed. Both pruning and harvesting are physically demanding jobs conducted in challenging outdoor environments with non-ergonomic working conditions. These factors make the work unattractive, ultimately increasing costs for the fruit industry. This project will contribute to robotizing these tasks, aligns with the global goals of improving productivity and quality in the agri-food industry while promoting sustainability and a data driven approach.

Downloads

Toolbox with (1) Benchmark ‘Motion planning algorithm’; (2) Orchard simulation environment (build on physics engine with models of target plants); (3) Dataset with plant scanning results from a real orchard (available upon request - contact Lucas Secades)

Contact

Lucas Secades (VUB): lucas.secades@vub.be

Research

Bram Vanderborght (VUB): bram.vanderborght@vub.be
Hiep Loung (UGent): hiep.loung@ugent.be

Research group

VUB-Brubotics

Ugent-IPI 

Development of a robot manipulation system to perform a variety of jobs in an orchard