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Octinion: The 3D Printed Strawberry-Picking Robot
Belgian engineering startup Octinion are attempting to revolutionise the way we harvest. They have recently developed a strawberry-picking robot that has a 3D printed “hand” to pick strawberries with. This advanced robot can even determine whether a strawberry is ripe
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Belgian engineering startup Octinion are attempting to revolutionise the way we harvest. They have recently developed a strawberry-picking robot that has a 3D printed “hand” to pick strawberries with. This advanced robot can even determine whether a strawberry is ripe enough to be picked.
The 3D printed hand allows it to be precisely engineered and made out of softer materials. This means it can pick strawberries without causing them any damage in the process. In addition, the machine can pick strawberries at a speed of around 1 every 3 seconds, which is similar to a human.
Robot revolution: blessing, or curse?
In a contrasting view, this machine could take masses of jobs away from people. This is echoed throughout the US economy as the number of fieldworkers has declined 40% in the last 15 years. Replacing these remaining fieldworkers with a strawberry-picking robot would take even more jobs from them. This could impact thousands of workers. However, if Octinion’s robot is just as good and doesn’t require a salary the benefits may become impossible to ignore.
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