Flower farming is a tough job. Flowers are tender. They have to be harvested gently, to prevent them from being bruised or broken. And each variety of flower presents its own special harvesting challenges. Up to now, floriculture harvesting has been done mostly by hand.
Jung Yun Bae, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and applied computing at Michigan Technological University, wants to help flower farmers automate that task. She is developing a robotic harvesting system that she hopes will help small flower farms streamline their harvesting process.
The decline in agricultural workers poses a significant obstacle to the sustainability of flower farming, Bae explains.
"This project aims to address the labor shortage by developing a robotic platform that integrates advanced technologies, including mechanical design, artificial intelligence, modern control algorithms and autonomous navigation," she says.
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