CHIBA, July 22 — Adam, an AI-equipped, cargo-carrying robot that tracks and follows humans, has recently been used in orchard farming, contributing to saving labor in a variety of farm work including harvesting and weeding.
Pear orchard farmer Yoichi Ishii (right) asks a Kisui Tech official about Adam’s functions in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture.
Adam, developed by agriculture IT startup Kisui Tech in Sendai, is a four-wheel drive transport vehicle that can be loaded with up to 300 kilograms of cargo.
AI allows the robot to recognize humans and follow specific people. It can also drive autonomously to preset destinations.
Farmers can operate the robot remotely using a controller. It comes with a grass cutting attachment that can be used for weeding in orchards.
The robot can run for eight to 10 hours after eight hours of charging.
Adam was adopted by Yoichi Ishii, 45, the owner of orchard farm Kanbe-en, who grows pears including the Kosui, Hosui and Akizuki varieties on a 3.6-hectare land in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture.
Ishii, who uses the robot to carry farm equipment, said, “It looks like it can handle multiple tasks all by itself.”
The farm has been hiring seven workers in a year and, during harvesting, they carry containers weighing 20 kg each to a transport vehicle parked at the center of the orchard.
Ishii thinks Adam will be able to replace human labor in other tasks — killing weeds and grasses, which has been done with backpack power sprayers, and carrying tanks to the orchard for watering, which has been done with a speed sprayer.
Kisui Tech says the firm has been receiving a lot of inquiries from across the nation, including from other pear farms.
Tamir Blum, Kisui Tech’s founder and chief executive officer, said the firm is working on making further improvements to the robot.
“We hope to equip the robot with a camera to collect data to help accelerate smart farming,” he said. “By reducing physically demanding labor, farmers can increase acreage and that will lead to stabilizing their income and addressing the issue of abandoned farmland.”