inaho Inc. (headquarters: Kanagawa, Japan), hereafter "inaho", has been undergoing trials of its snack tomato (loose cherry tomato) harvesting robot in the Netherlands.

inaho's tomato harvesting robot started trials with Dutch growers in May 2023, and the cooperating grower has agreed to pay the fees for the robot's harvesting performance since November 2023.   

The latest trial in June-July 2024 just finished in the Netherlands and inaho's robot demonstrated its improvements and performance.

Improved harvesting speed:

Compared to last year, the robot has doubled its harvesting speed in similar conditions, thanks to a new chip, new camera and improved AI software.

Fewer mistakes:

Improved image recognition has decreased the number of errors associated with dropping tomatoes and picking green ones.

More practical body:

Moreover, its body has been slimmed down, making it more practical in the greenhouses for avoiding damage to the plants and fitting smaller lanes.

Collaborations with future-looking Dutch growers

The owner and grower Nick Duijvestijn from Kwekerij Duijvestijn who closely cooperates with inaho says, "Preparing for higher labour costs and labour shortage is one of our priorities, and cooperation with inaho gives us an opportunity to get used to working with harvesting robots. inaho's robot is easy to operate for the employees and our tomatoes are harvested safely without any damage to the fruits and plants."

inaho is actively looking for partner growers for commercialization

inaho's COO Sohya Ohyama emphasizes the collaborative vision of inaho's robotics:

"We want to expand the scales of our trials to get ready for commercializing our robots and we are actively looking for some growers with a clear vision for the future. The growers can take advantage of becoming familiar with collaborative operations with robots at an early stage. We are willing to work together with growers to develop a concrete business model and robot arrangements to maximize the co-performance between humans and the robots."

Growers who collaborate with inaho at an early stage can be offered benefits such as early discounts and priority use.

If you would like to know more details about the latest development of the robot and the result of the latest trial in the Netherlands, please contact us and we will respond to you shortly with details and to discuss potential collaboration.

The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AgriTechTomorrow

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