China Puts Humanoid Robots Through Tea Harvesting Field Trials

China is field-testing humanoid robots for tea harvesting, a task requiring precision and dexterity. The trials, reported by state media, involve robots developed by the Institute of Automation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASIA) and other research institutions. The robots are designed to identify tender tea leaves and pluck them without damaging the plant, a process that typically relies on skilled human labor. The humanoid robots use computer vision and machine learning algorithms to locate the optimal picking points. They are equipped with dual-arm manipulators and specialized grippers that mimic the fine motor skills of human fingers. The tests are being conducted in tea plantations in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, where the terrain is hilly and existing mechanized harvesters are unsuitable. The robots face challenges such as variable lighting, leaf occlusion, and the need for gentle handling to avoid bruising the leaves. Early results show picking success rates of around 70%, with plans to improve through iterative learning. This application is part of China’s broader push to deploy humanoid robots in agriculture to address labor shortages and increase productivity. The tea harvesting trials could lead to commercial deployment within three to five years if performance metrics improve. The research also contributes to the development of general-purpose humanoid robots capable of complex manipulation in unstructured environments.

Source: Interesting Engineering