Mississippi State University Scientists Use $1 Million Grant To ‘Get A Grip’ On Automated Blackberry Harvesting
The labor-intensive work of harvesting delicate blackberries by hand is a must, but the development of advanced technologies by Mississippi State University scientists could help automate the tedious process.
Many agricultural crops are picked quickly by machines, and MSU Assistant Professor Xin Zhang, of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, is working with a university team to do the same for ripe blackberries—taking this high-value specialty crop from special handling to robotic harvesting.
Supported by the NIFA and National Science Foundation National Robotics Initiative, the Mississippi State team is developing a blackberry detection and localization system, the “eyes” and “brain” of a robotic harvester system powered by an innovative, artificial intelligence-driven deep learning approach.
As the MSU team develops this component, partners at Georgia Tech are working on a soft touch robotic arm and gripper and a bipedal mobile platform to work hand-in-glove with the MSU-trained perception system. While Mississippi State and Georgia Tech researchers are developing hardware technology, partners at the University of Arkansas are focused on post-harvesting fruit analysis. Read more about this collaboration.
Mississippi State University, collaborating with Georgia Tech and the University of Arkansas, has developed a robotic blackberry picker. Image courtesy of Mississippi State University.
NIFA to Decommission the Public-facing Current Research Information Service Sept. 30.
NIFA’s Current Research Information Service (CRIS) public website has been used for many years to provide access to information about specific NIFA-funded grant projects. As NIFA continues to modernize business processes and user experience, the CRIS database will be decommissioned on Sept. 30.
The public can access the same project-based information previously found on the CRIS site by visiting the NIFA Data Gateway webpage and clicking “Launch NIFA Enterprise Search.” This will be the primary way the public can find information about individual projects and funding amounts. NIFA also invites the public to explore its public-facing dashboards which contain a wealth of information about NIFA’s funding.
Contact electronic@usda.gov with questions.
Michigan Tech Faculty Visits NIFA
USDA NIFA is committed to fostering strong relationships with its college and university partners. As part of that effort, NIFA continues to meet with stakeholders when they visit Washington, D.C. Recently, Michigan Technological University faculty met with NIFA professionals to learn more about the agency and funding opportunities.
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