When Robots Take Over the Apple Harvest

According to the Bavendorf Lake Constance Fruit Growing Competence Center, 246,700 metric tons of apples were harvested at Lake Constance in 2024. That amounts to about 1.6 billion picking operations. Digitalization and automation are already on the rise in the interest of sustainable agriculture—and this applies to apple harvesting as well.

The vision of the two universities, RWU and DHBW Ravensburg, is a harvesting robot. At the DHBW’s Friedrichshafen Technology Campus, scientists therefore began by working on a corresponding simulation. This allowed them, for example, to test the sensors’ functionality under various weather conditions. In addition, various safety scenarios were tested virtually, such as the detection of people. Working with a simulation saves time and costs in the development of the actual robot. 

AI Determines Ripeness and Predicts Harvest Yields

Under the leadership of Professor Dr. Jörg Eberhardt, researchers at RWU developed an AI system capable of determining the ripeness of apples. It forecasts harvest yields and determines the ideal harvest time. The information is made available to fruit growers in a user-friendly format via an app. This system was developed and tested by Professor Dr. Markus Lauterbach of RWU and his team. The robot autonomously makes its rounds using cameras and GPS signals. Professor Dr. Thomas Dietmüller and research assistant Pranav Gangavarapu were responsible for the project at DHBW. 

Initially, these research findings will be used primarily for harvesting. In the future, they may also be applied to winter pruning, spraying, and pest control. At the conclusion of the project, the harvesting robot delivered its first practical results in the apple orchard. Further projects by the two universities on the topic of fruit growing will follow. The Bernhard Fruit Farm in Kressbronn is also making its apple trees available to them for further trials.