Mechanization of the harvesting of fruits, and primarily of those that are destined for the fresh market, is highly desirable in many countries due to the decrease in seasonal labour availability. Some of the technology exists for harvesting fruit intended for processing, but its utilization for soft, fresh fruit is limited, because of the excessive mechanical damage to the fruit during mechanical harvesting. An alternative to the current mechanical harvesting systems, superior from the point of view of fruit quality, but far more ambitious, is automated fruit picking with a robotic system which emulates the human picker. The challenge of developing a cost-effective robotic system for fruit picking has been taken up by researchers at several places in the world. The major problems that have to be solved with a robotic picking system are recognizing and locating the fruit and detaching it according to prescribed criteria, without damaging either the fruit or the tree. In addition, the robotic system needs to be economically sound to warrant its use as an alternative method to hand picking. This paper reviews the work carried out during the past 10 years in several countries, in developing a robot for picking fruit. Its major objective is to focus on the technological progress made so far, point out the problems still to be solved, and outline the conditions, technological and socio-economic, under which the robotic method will be accepted. © 1993 Silsoe Research Institute.
