By Jamie Martin
In an exciting step forward for agriculture, a North Carolina research team is designing a robotic tool to reduce labor on tomato farms. As part of the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative (PSI), scientists are testing a smart stake-setting system at NC State’s horticulture field station.
Tomato growers typically install over 2,000 stakes per acre to prevent crops from lying on the ground. This helps protect plants from damage, disease, and improves harvest efficiency. However, it is a physically demanding task that requires significant labor—something increasingly hard to find.
To address this, Emmanuel Torres Quezada and Andrea Monteza are leading a team working with Fernando Fuentes, a Chilean biosystems engineer, to create a tractor-pulled device that sets stakes automatically. The machine features a mechanical arm that picks up stakes and uses artificial intelligence and sensing tools to drive them safely into the soil.
The AI system guiding the stake placement needs to be trained with around 100,000 farm images. To collect these, the Makerspace team is using a tractor-mounted imaging system that captures and uploads pictures during field operations.
This project also involves Brad Lewis from the Ag Analytics Platform, and students Connery Tran, Vy Hoang, John Glenn II, and Ryan Babcock. Their work will help make tomato farming more efficient and less reliant on large labor crews.
This research shows how combining science and technology can support American agriculture and benefit local farmers.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-bastetamn
Categories: National