Technological Solution in Agricultural Tasks

The Israeli agriculture and agriculturists find durable solutions for real problems which is the great variability of the agricultural tasks, such as fruit, legume or cereal plant support net. This makes the adjustment of the technological solution to the working environment essential and, in fact, demands coming to terms with the above-mentioned great variability. However, the proposed solutions must be economically feasible, simple and robust.

Avital Bechar, an engineer and researcher who works at the Institute of Agricultural Engineering (ARO)  reached and developed a solution which can adapt itself to a constantly changing working environment. It operates inside greenhouses where pepper is grown. This robot – an 'iROBOT for greenhouses' – uses an interfacing algorithm based on DEEP LEARNING for the identification of different plant indices.  As the robot moves inside the greenhouse, between its rows it collects diverse data about the crop, without making any physical contact with the plants.

These data – the overall weight of the pepper fruit (to an accuracy of 100 grams), the number of leaves (to the accuracy of 30 leaves), the general state of the plant under surveillance, etc., are obtained and saved by the robot for the grower's future use . The robot fulfils this task in navigating autonomously inside the greenhouse, and as previously explained, with no physical contact with the plants.

Therefore, for example, the robot is able to survey a number of greenhouse rows simultaneously. In other words, the use of this technology enables the grower to acquire a close-to-real estimation of the crop's yield from a given plot, irrespective of whether the plot is in a greenhouse shade net or an open field.  

The robotic arm is then able to maneuver to the branch destined for pruning and carry out the required operation. This action is a manifestation of the principle of MAN-MACHINE and/or MAN-ROBOT interfacing. Last but not least is the development of electrostatic pollination, where pollen grain is charged by an electrostatic charge, to make the pollination process in fruit- trees' flowers more efficient.

Thus, the outstanding connection between these extraordinary physiological processes, which occur in nature and the most advanced technologies are realized.The principal beneficiary of this more efficient pollination will be, without doubt, the grower which use waterproof shade net in their farmland, who will not be the only one to gain from this development.