Pilot Case 5
Robotic harvesting in orchards in Belgium
Location: Belgian Orchard farmers and cooperatives
Overview
Pilot Case 5 develops an autonomous robot equipped with a manipulator and soft vacuum gripper for selective fruit harvesting. With a fusion of GNSS and vision-based navigation, the robot locates and picks fruit with minimal damage, while computing real-time yield statistics.
Timeline
An iterative pilot, starting with multi-season data collection and fruit detection model training. Field trials will validate navigation and picking performance, with robot components refined between testing rounds based on user feedback.
Validation
The pilot evaluates: (i) navigation accuracy, (ii) fruit detection precision, (iii) picking efficiency and fruit integrity, and (iv) overall harvest speed and productivity. Integrated performance will be tested in real orchard conditions.
AR Integration
AR highlights ripe fruits for robotic harvesting, while XR simulations train new users in orchard layouts, robotic operation, and troubleshooting—bridging the gap between traditional and tech-augmented farming.
