Robotic Grape Inspection and Selective Harvesting in Vineyards: A Multisensory Robotic System With Advanced Cognitive Capabilities

<p>Driven by the increasing food demand and the need for higher-quality  cultivation, precision agriculture grows steadily during the last  decade. It involves the application of mobile robots and intelligent  robotic technologies in various agricultural field tasks, concerning a  variety of crop types. Aiming at compensating for the lack of selective  robotic harvesting solutions regarding the high-value crop of grapes,  the EU-funded project BACCHUS 1  develops an intelligent mobile robotic system, comprising two  independent and cooperative robots: one for the grape inspection and  collection of valuable data regarding their maturity level, and one for  the bimanual harvesting of grapes in a human-inspired manner. Validated  via real-field trials, the proposed autonomous system pushes forward the  precision agriculture application for a particularly sensitive crop  type in the challenging and heavily cluttered environment of vineyards,  facilitating the selective harvesting of high-quality grapes.</p>