University of Arkansas Patents Soft Robotic Gripper for Gentle Blackberry Harvest
In the heart of Arkansas’s fertile fields, where blackberry bushes sprawl under the southern sun, a quiet revolution in agricultural technology is taking shape. Researchers at the University of Arkansas have unveiled a patented soft robotic gripper designed specifically for harvesting delicate blackberries, a crop that has long defied mechanization due to its fragility. This innovation, detailed in a recent University of Arkansas News article, promises to address chronic labor shortages plaguing the industry by mimicking the gentle touch of human hands with silicone fingers that apply precise pressure without bruising the fruit.
The gripper, which earned a U.S. patent in April under the title “Soft Robotic Gripper for Berry Harvesting,” represents years of interdisciplinary collaboration. Engineers and food scientists from the University of Arkansas, working alongside teams from Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, tested prototypes that could navigate thorny rows and select ripe berries with minimal damage. Early trials, as reported in a 2023 University of Arkansas News feature, showed robots picking blackberries at rates comparable to human workers, but with the potential for round-the-clock operation…