Robotic apple harvester making headway

Fresh Fruit Robotics’ apple harvester trials in 2021 set the stage for the company to prepare for commercialization. The latest iteration of the robot picked about 80 percent of the fruit, leaving fruit that’s too small, too green or blocked behind a branch or wire. It’s never going to be able to pick 100 percent. Company CEO Avi Kahani said with the bin delivery system running, he expects the machine to pick a few bins per hour, 24 hours a day. (TJ Mullinax and Kate Prengaman/Good Fruit Grower)