A new tomato harvesting robot has recently been driving through the paths of Tomatoworld. It is the latest product of inaho Europe, a subsidiary of the Japanese company inaho. "The purpose of launching the demonstration at Tomatoworld is to allow more interested people to see the robot in operation," says Takahito Shimizu, managing director of inaho Europe. "We want to demonstrate the robot and receive more feedback from growers, in order to develop and increase the value of the robot."
Snack tomato robot
Tomatoworld is a horticultural information and education center in Westland, Netherlands. In the greenhouse, snack tomatoes are grown.
Takahito shows how the robot is a fully automatic harvesting device for snack tomatoes. "The AI algorithm identifies the ripe fruits by color and size and then harvests the ripe snack tomatoes."
inaho has already conducted field trials with growers in Japan and demonstrated a reduction in human working hours of around 16% by setting up a workflow in which robots harvest during the nighttime before humans do.
Meanwhile, inaho also found that there are differences between Japanese and Dutch growers in terms of harvest and post-harvest operations. "For example, the standards for the picking appropriate color of the fruits and the frequency of harvesting are different," says Takahito.
In order to develop a solution that is more suitable for Dutch growers, inaho is keen to get a better understanding of the Dutch growers' practices and receive more operational feedback from them. In this context, inaho is also actively seeking a grower partner who would be able to carry out a field trial of the harvesting robot.
Growers welcome
The demonstration in Tomatoworld also contributes to this: growers are invited to come and see and assess the robot. "We are happy to discuss details about the robot, such as its functions and expected future updates. We can also provide simulations to calculate the labor and cost savings, based on the results of the trials in Japan," Takahito says.
It is not the Japanese company's first robot. inaho already launched an AI-equipped asparagus harvesting robot (video) in 2019. They are also working on a robot that can phenotype plants. inaho operates according to the Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) business model - paying per harvested product.
Interested parties are welcome to schedule an appointment
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Inaho
en.inaho.co