California-based start-up Advanced Farm Technologies has received a minority investment from CNH Industrial. Advanced Farm Technologies designs and builds robotic harvesters for apples, strawberries and other fruits.
Its first harvester was for strawberries, and last year it launched the apple harvester for use in Washington. The two platforms use a lot of the same technology–computer vision and machine learning tech stack. The apple picker features multiple robotic arms on each harvester and suction cup grippers.
In CNH’s announcement, the company says robotic harvesting of high value crops increases efficiency up to five times. Currently, 70% of U.S-grown strawberries are hand harvested, and 46% of apples are handpicked.
CNH leaders say the company is in “a technology growth mode, committed to customer-inspired innovation. This latest investment is part of our broader strategy to bring cutting-edge solutions to our portfolio. We are especially focused on automated, autonomous, and sustainable farming innovations that solve important and complex challenges for our customers.”
