Farmers offer a quarter of a million for collecting blueberries

The American farmer company Naturipe Farms , which is mainly engaged in the cultivation and harvesting of berries, organized a competition for everyone to create a robot to collect American blueberries. The winner of the competition will receive $ 250,000.

American blueberries (Cyanococcus species) are a variety of berries of the genus Vaccinium, which include our blueberries (they are called “European blueberry” or bilberry in America). It is blue, because of what is called blueberry, and it is still collected from the bushes by hand .


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The fruits of American blueberries are very delicate, and ripen on the bush in turn, so workers have to go through the same shrubs many times, looking for and picking ripe berries. Due to the rapidly growing demand for this product, a similar competition was announced.

Farmers have developed their wishes according to the specifications, which must satisfy the possible machine for picking berries. He must be able to recognize the size and color of the fruit, in order to choose ripe berries, carefully pick the berry off the stem in order not to damage it, automatically fold the collected fruits into baskets, work both day and night, collect about 500 kg of berries a day, be able to move over uneven terrain (along the bed) and cost no more than half a million dollars in production.

If you have already flashed all possible LEDs with the help of Arduino, and think about how to attach to business and what is useful to do with your desire to assemble a robot, then this is a chance for you.