Engineering news
The University of Lincoln is developing a new way of harvesting broccoli, using 3D camera technology to tell when the crop is ready, which could result in a fully automatic robotic harvesting system.
The University of Lincoln is one of more than 70 UK businesses and universities to share funding through the £70 million Agri-Tech Catalyst, which aims to improve the development of agricultural technology in the UK.
The project, which is jointly funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Innovate UK, will test whether 3D camera technology can be used to identify and select when broccoli is ready for harvesting.
The research team comprises academics Professor Tom Duckett and Dr Grzegorz Cielniak from Lincoln’s School of Computer Science and Dr Simon Pearson from the University’s National Centre for Food Manufacturing (NCFM) at Holbeach. The main industry partner is R. Fountain & Son, horticultural consultants based in Boston, Lincolnshire, who will be responsible for creating the broccoli-cutting device.
Project lead Professor Tom Duckett, group co-ordinator of the Agri-Food Technology Research Group at the University of Lincoln, said: “Broccoli is one of the world's largest vegetable crops and is almost entirely manually harvested, which is costly. This technology is seen as being an important move towards developing fully automatic robot harvesting systems, which could then be used for a variety of different crops.
“In all our agri-related research work, our mission is to develop new technological solutions for the business of producing food through agriculture. The long-term impact of our research includes safer food, less waste, more efficient food production and better use of natural resources, as well as promoting human health and happiness.”
Farming minister George Eustice added: "We want to see our agriculture sector grow, become more competitive and more profitable which is why we are supporting projects like this through our agri-tech strategy."