Fruit growers are finding it hard to hire enough workers for harvesting and pruning. Washington state is a leading place for apples and cherries, and farms need many seasonal workers. An aging population and fewer migrant workers make the problem worse.
Researchers at Washington State University made a low-cost inflatable robotic arm to help pick apples and do other orchard chores. The team works with a research center and with a collaborator at Cornell University to put the arm on a moving platform for orchards.
The arm is about two feet long, light and safe near people. It can see an apple and pick it in around 25 seconds. Researchers are improving the arm and testing it at a fruit farm.
Difficult words
- grower — a person who works on a fruit farmgrowers
- harvest — to collect ripe crops from plantsharvesting
- prune — to cut parts of a tree or plantpruning
- seasonal — happening at a particular time of year
- inflatable — can be filled with air to become larger
- collaborator — a person or group working together on something
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Would you like to use a robotic arm to pick fruit? Why or why not?
- Do you know seasonal workers in your area? What work do they do?
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