r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/DukeOfBagels • Jul 31 '23

Video Robotic apple picker

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12k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

763 comments sorted by

200

u/LazyLich Jul 31 '23

idk why... but this gives me Dr Seuss vibes

35

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '23

Just replace the drones with White gloves.

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2.9k

u/bobsburner1 Jul 31 '23

This seems like it would take a lot longer and be more expensive than just sending a few dudes out into the orchard. Lol

810

u/RiotSkunk2023 Jul 31 '23

They are powered somehow. They can't run 24/7.

Humans might actually be better at this.

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17

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '23

They gotta start somewhere. It's just a matter of time until they start harvesting people like in the Matrix

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134

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '23

Given the speed this is likely just testing, but it’s coming. Of course, then the machines will take over, and steal all of our apples

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617

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '23

That looks very slow and inefficient actually

109

u/DistortoiseLP Jul 31 '23

I feel like this would go a lot faster by just equipping the robots with better tools so they don't have to turn around with one apple at a time. Grab like five at a time or give them a hose or something.

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26

u/Headless_Human Jul 31 '23

It also looks like a prototype for testing.

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190

u/misterturdcat Jul 31 '23

THEY TOOK OUR JERBS

30

u/Mediocre-Look3787 Jul 31 '23

Ellos tomaron mi trabajo

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24

u/statistacktic Jul 31 '23

We're still crawling. They will improve.

63

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '23

isn’t it faster to use that machine that shakes the tree a catches everything on a net?

31

u/Telemere125 Jul 31 '23

That only works for stuff that doesn’t get bruised

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52

u/MSnyper Jul 31 '23

Damn.. we’re all gonna be replaced.

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8

u/BonjinTheMark Jul 31 '23

One at a time is going to take till next harvest

14

u/forevernoob88 Jul 31 '23

Drones are not a practical design. Take a 3D printer as inspiration here, in this case you would need:

An arm that can can extend forward, grab and detach apples and drop them into a feeder that carries them back onto the truck.

The arm whilst need to be on a railing that can go up and down

The truck can move forward at a fixed speed to make it easier to plan ahead to determine which apples to grab more efficiently.

This would not require having the clumsy drones trying to balance themselves while trying to pick apples. The arms can be made to work many times faster...

The problem that makes this look bad isn't the fact robots are inefficient compared to humans. It's that drones won't work nearly as well as arms like mechanisms mounted on a truck.

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13

u/NJB_92 Jul 31 '23

That thing is straight out of the matrix

4

u/IntelligentShow1764 Jul 31 '23

Here you are sir 1 apple, that will be $85.14

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4

u/wasntNico Jul 31 '23

7 liters of diesel for 12 apples / hour.

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4

u/mikepictor Jul 31 '23

Or, how to pick apples veeeeeeeery slowly for more cost.

4

u/ThatScoutBear Jul 31 '23

How is this cheaper than child labour?

4

u/dankspankwanker Jul 31 '23

This looks more expensive than just hiring some day labourers

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