Robots Are Trying To Pick Strawberries. So Far, They're Not Very Good At It (npr.org)

Robots have taken over many of America's factories. They can explore the depths of the ocean, and other planets. They can play ping-pong. But can they pick a strawberry? From a report: "You kind of learn, when you get into this -- it's really hard to match what humans can do," says Bob Pitzer, an expert on robots and co-founder of a company called Harvest CROO Robotics. (CROO is an acronym. It stands for Computerized Robotic Optimized Obtainer.) Any 4-year old can pick a strawberry, but machines, for all their artificial intelligence, can't seem to figure it out. Pitzer says the hardest thing for them is just finding the fruit. The berries hide behind leaves in unpredictable places. "You know, I used to work in the semiconductor industry. I was a development engineer for Intel, and it was a lot easier to make semiconductor chips," he says with a laugh.

Comments

Click-Bait headline

[apoc.famine]

Go half-way down the article, and you'll find this nugget:

Also, he admits, the machine is slower than human hands. On the other hand, it has some advantages. It can work right through the night, when berries are cooler and less fragile.

Another two years, he says, and this machine will be in the fields working for real. "There's quirks to work out, but it's getting there. We're close," he says.

While the headline makes it seem like the robot picker is far from reality, the people working on it don't think so. And it's not just a minor project:

Strawberry companies representing two-thirds of the industry are putting millions of dollars into this project.

The robots are indeed coming for our jobs. Because if they can pick strawberries, what can't they pick?*

*Their nose.