8.17.2004
Tomato-picking robots
Ohio State University develops robotic tomato harvester for the J.F. Kennedy Space Center
Further research in robotic farming is being helped by NASA of all people. According to the article:
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Further research in robotic farming is being helped by NASA of all people. According to the article:
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) considers farming a matter of survival for future long-term space missions. Plants provide food when deliveries from Earth aren't feasible and make air breathable and water drinkable. But who will care for and harvest crops when astronauts are so busy carrying out key mission tasks? "Labor requirements to grow and harvest the crops must be reduced through automation," said Peter Ling, an Ohio State University Extension specialist.
- The harvester includes a sensing unit and a robotic hand integrated with a commercial robotic manipulator provided by Motoman Inc., West Carrollton, Ohio.
The sensing unit, or robotic eye, scans the tomato plant and determines the number and position of red fruits. With this information, the four-finger prosthetic hand moves in the direction of the fruit. The fingers then open around the tomato and get a hold of it before a pulling, bending or torsion movement is applied to detach it.
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Dear Sir,
I am an android enthusiast (robotics have fascinated me since I can remember), and I have just now discovered this site, though in the past I have been a tremendous fan of your previous endeavors at the "how stuff works" site. I see many incredible achievements in this field, and I'm glad they're getting posted, even though they're not getting media recognition and attention. I foresee technology such as this being the primary factor in setting up biosphere-like stations on other planetary bodies or deep-space missions. Frankly, I think it's been far too long that we've ignored these developments and the possibilities within.
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I am an android enthusiast (robotics have fascinated me since I can remember), and I have just now discovered this site, though in the past I have been a tremendous fan of your previous endeavors at the "how stuff works" site. I see many incredible achievements in this field, and I'm glad they're getting posted, even though they're not getting media recognition and attention. I foresee technology such as this being the primary factor in setting up biosphere-like stations on other planetary bodies or deep-space missions. Frankly, I think it's been far too long that we've ignored these developments and the possibilities within.
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