Researchers develop dual-arm robotic system for automated cucumber harvesting
Fraunhofer IPK is developing a lightweight robotic system under the EU CATCH project to automate cucumber harvesting and maintain the viability of domestic crop production.
Facing rising labor costs and a shortage of seasonal workers, the German agricultural sector is exploring automation to replace traditional manual harvesting methods. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK) is currently testing a dual-arm robot system designed to identify and harvest cucumbers efficiently in field conditions.
The system utilizes multispectral imaging and advanced control software to detect cucumbers hidden by vegetation. A key technical requirement is the robot's ability to handle the harvest gently, ensuring that crops and roots remain undamaged during the process. The hardware, based on modular components, aims to achieve an efficiency rate comparable to human pickers, who typically harvest up to 13 cucumbers per minute.
The initiative is part of the EU-funded CATCH project, which seeks to prevent the migration of cucumber farming to lower-cost regions. By refining tactile perception and human-mimicking movement patterns, the research team intends to develop a dependable, cost-effective solution for large-scale agricultural automation.