PotatoBot (potato planting robot)

2024: Product Announcement

In July 2024, the University of Cambridge unveiled the innovative PotatoBot robot, designed for neat potato planting. The device was developed by graduate student Elijah Almanzor as part of a three-year research project at the Bioinspired Robotics Laboratory (BIRL) led by Professor Fumia Iida.

According to Future Farming, PotatoBot is an electric robot that can receive power from a generator in a field or from a tractor. It automates work using a computer vision and artificial intelligence system. Thanks to the neural network, the robot can detect and segment Jersey Royal variety potatoes, given the depth of view of the camera mounted on its wrist.

source = University of Cambridge

The main goal of PotatoBot is to facilitate the process of growing Jersey Royal potatoes on the island of Jersey, which exports up to 30 thousand tons of this product annually. The idea of ​ ​ developing a robot arose because other mechanical planting methods damaged the crop due to the fragile, paper-like peel of potatoes.

For commercial use, PotatoBot must provide tuber planting in 3.5 seconds with a 90% success rate. In addition, a stand-alone mobile platform is required to operate in the field. The project is supported by UKRI EPSRC and the Jersey Farmers Union.

In the future, the technology used in PotatoBot can be adapted to plant other varieties of potatoes and vegetables that require careful handling. The developers hope that in the future they can introduce PotatoBot into real agricultural production, going beyond laboratory conditions.

PotatoBot is designed to plant Jersey Royal potatoes in the same way people do. Unlike other varieties, Jersey Royal needs to be planted by hand because its shoots are easily damaged by mechanical seeders, noted Elijah Almanzor.[1]

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