Agricultural robot: 🤖 Harvesting 24/7: How cobots are solving the shortage of people in agriculture

🔹 Introduction: A problem that cannot be postponed

Agriculture is facing a crisis. It's not just about the weather or energy prices, but an acute shortage of labor. Vegetables and fruit can't wait. Strawberries must be harvested now, apples this week. Finding dozens of reliable seasonal workers for physically demanding and monotonous work is getting harder every year.

When you think of "agricultural robot," most people picture a giant autonomous tractor. But the real revolution is happening elsewhere—in precision robotics. We're talking about smart robotic arms that can use artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize ripe fruit, gently grasp it, and place it in a crate without damaging it.

🔹 Main part: From tractor to surgical precision

The problem called "seasonal peak"

• Lack of people: There is no one to harvest. Laborers are scarce, expensive and unreliable.
• Crop damage: Manual harvesting is inconsistent. Untrained workers crush the fruit, pick it with the leaf, or harvest unripe pieces.
• Monotonous work: Sorting potatoes, packing apples into boxes, or stacking pallets. These are tasks where human fatigue leads to errors and accidents.
• Working at night: Harvesting is often best during the cooler hours of the night, but getting people to work the night shift is almost impossible.

Solution: Intelligent cobot

A modern agricultural robot (cobot) is a combination of three technologies: eyes, brain, and hands.

1. Eyes and Brain (AI and 3D Vision) The robot is equipped with a 3D camera. The artificial intelligence (AI) system has been "taught" what a ripe strawberry, cucumber or pepper looks like. The robot looks at the plant, immediately identifies all the ripe fruits and calculates the best path to get to them.

2. Hands (Soft tentacles) Instead of brute force, emotion takes over. The robot does not use steel pliers. At the end of the arm, it has a special soft tentacle that gently "hugs" the fruit and separates it from the plant with vacuum or sensitive pressure without creasing it.

Where does a cobot help?

Application 1: Precision harvesting
Robotic arms are mounted on mobile platforms (small carts) that slowly move through rows in a greenhouse or field. With the help of AI, the robot identifies ripe fruits (strawberries, tomatoes, peppers) and harvests them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• Benefit: Harvests non-stop, even at night. Zero damage to the fruit. Solves 100% of the lack of people in the field.

Application 2: Packaging and sorting (Fastest return on investment)
For many farms, this is the first step towards automation. It is easier and cheaper than harvesting.

How it works: Fruit or vegetables (apples, potatoes, onions) travel on a conveyor. A camera identifies the quality. The cobot then discards defective pieces or stacks good pieces into boxes and crates.

• Benefit: Consistent packaging quality, huge time savings and elimination of monotonous work.

Application 3: Palletizing
At the end of the packaging line is a palletizing robot. It lifts finished boxes or bags (e.g. with potatoes) and places them on a pallet.

• Benefit: Elimination of the hardest physical labor, prevention of back injuries and stable performance 24/7.

🔹 Recommended solutions for agriculture

For agricultural applications, flexibility, ease of programming and often resistance to dust and moisture (higher IP protection) are key.

• Universal Robots (UR-e series): These cobots often have higher protection (IP54) and are the standard for mobile robotics and packaging lines due to their reliability.
• Dobot (CR series): They offer a great price-performance ratio, ideal for automating fixed workplaces such as a packaging or palletizing station.
• OnRobot Soft Gripper: A key technology. Made from soft silicone (often food-grade), this gripper is specifically designed to grip fragile and irregular objects—like fruits or vegetables—without damaging them.
• OnRobot VGP20 (Vacuum Gripper): Ideal for palletizing finished boxes or bags.

🔹 Frequently asked questions about agricultural robots (FAQ)

1. Can the robot work outdoors in the field in the rain? Most cobots are intended for greenhouses, packing houses and warehouses. They have protection against dust and splashing water (e.g. IP54), but direct rain or frost bother them. Outdoor harvesting robots are always part of a larger, covered mobile machine.

2. Can a robot really grasp fragile fruit? Yes. Thanks to technologies like the OnRobot Soft Gripper, the grasp is softer and more sensitive than a human hand. The robot never "thinks" and squeezes too hard.

3. Isn’t it too expensive for a small farm? Harvest automation with AI is becoming increasingly expensive. But packaging or palletizing automation with a cobot often has a return on investment (ROI) of just 12-24 months, even for a small business. It’s much more affordable than people think.

🔹 Conclusion: The future of harvest lies in precision

The agricultural robot is no longer just a giant tractor. It is a smart and precise collaborative partner that solves the industry's most pressing problem: labor shortages. Whether it's delicately picking a strawberry or tediously stacking bags on a pallet, the cobot is ready to work non-stop.

Want to find out how a cobot could help with packaging or sorting in your operation? Visit svet-robotu.cz and discover components for modern agriculture.