Shigehiko Hayashi1, Satoshi Yamamoto1, Shogo Tsubota1, Yoshiji Ochiai1, Ken Kobayashi1, Junzo Kamata2, Mitsutaka Kurita2, Hiroyuki Inazumi2, Peter Rajendra2
1.Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution, NARO, Saitama, Japan
2.Shibuya Seiki Co., Ltd, Matsuyama, Japan

The harvesting and packing operations in strawberry production require harder, more time-consuming work compared to other operations such as transplanting and chemical spraying, making automation of these tasks desirable. Japanese researchers have overcome many challenges to automate the harvesting operations for strawberries as well as for other fruits.
Studies on strawberry-harvesting robots for soil culture and elevated substrate culture were started in Japanese universities. Based on the findings of these previous studies, the Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution (BRAIN) and Shibuya Seiki created a prototype commercial model of a strawberry-harvesting robot. The latest results showed an average 54.9% harvesting success rate, 8.6 s cycle time of picking operation, and 102.5 m/h work efficiency in hanging-type growing beds in an experimental greenhouse.
In packing facilities, many types of fruits have been graded and packed by robots; however, strawberries are too delicate to be handled by mechanical hands. To automate this task, the BRAIN developed a prototype packing robot that suctions strawberry fruits from the calyx side using machine vision. Performance testing showed that automatic packing had a task success rate of 97.3%, with a process time per fruit of 7.3 s.