Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Startup's Apple Picking Robots Get $10M

One day soon, driving through the Wenatchee Valley, instead of seeing workers wandering down the rows picking the region's famous apples--it might be a shiny, automated robot. A startup, which was originally funded by research from the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, has just raised $10M to bring automation to the apple picking industry. Hayward, California-based Abundant Robotics, a developer of robots which automate the process of picking apples for apple growers, said its funding round was led by GV, and also included BayWa AG, Tellus Partners,Yamaha Motor Company, KPCB Edge, and Comet Labs. According to Abundant Robotics, its apple picking robots are the result of research originally developed at SRI International and funded by the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission. The startup's robot uses computer vision and a vacuum system to reduce the need for hard-to-find labor for the apple harvest.