Smart Picking System

Summary

Trial conducted by Hinkler AgTech Initiative.

The Growlogic Harvest Ant system begins with a smart picking bag with inbuit sensors. Data collected by the sensors is fed back to an analytics program via a dedicated on-farm gateway. Data can be used to analyse and manage individual picker information. It can also be aggregated to provide overall harvest information such as yield maps.

The canvas bag and harness are also ergonomically designed and made from high visibility material for the health and safety of the user.

The Harvest Ant system was trialled during harvesting of lychees and avocados to assess reliability, comfort and overall value to the farming operation.

Key findings included:

• Bags performed reliably with no malfunctions
• Pickers generally found them to be more comfortable than alternatives
• Some pickers did comment on heat generated by the sensors and effects of the flourescent material
• Growers were able to use data to identify and fix inefficiencies in their harvesting processes