内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2025/wsu-researchers-develop-an-ai-robot-that-uses-a-puff-of-air-to-find-and-pick-ripe-strawberries/

内容总结：

美国华盛顿州立大学研发出一款具备人工智能视觉系统的草莓采摘机器人，通过内置风扇吹开叶片识别成熟果实，配合软质夹爪实现无损采摘。该机器在中国惠州田间试验中采摘成功率达74%，较无风扇模式提升16%，单果采摘耗时约20秒。研究团队表示，当前技术虽无法完全替代人工，但可有效缓解农业劳动力短缺问题。

该成果发表于《计算机与电子农业》期刊，其创新性在于首次采用气流而非机械拨片方式处理叶片遮挡问题，通过深度学习算法与硬件协同提升了机器人在复杂环境中的作业能力。尽管采摘速度仍低于人工，但测算显示10台四臂机器人可在43小时内采收约30万颗草莓，该技术未来有望扩展至葡萄等作物应用。

此项研究是太平洋西北地区农业科技创新的代表案例，同期该区域多家企业已推出蘑菇采摘、激光除草及农田清石等农业机器人产品，标志着智慧农业技术进入加速落地阶段。

中文翻译：

摘草莓看似简单，但对最尖端的机器人而言却异常困难。果实常被叶丛遮盖，导致机器难以探测并无损采收。华盛顿州立大学的研究团队提出了解决方案：一款融合柔性硅胶抓取器与吹叶风扇的AI机器人，可在采摘前吹开叶片。

在中国惠州进行的田间试验中，该设备通过风扇系统成功采收近四分之三的成熟草莓，较无风扇模式效率提升16%。机器人平均耗时20秒完成单颗草莓的识别与采摘。今夏，包含中国科研人员在内的团队将成果发表于《农业计算机与电子》期刊。

"该技术目前尚无法完全替代人力，"现就职于丹麦奥胡斯大学的论文第一作者何子暄（音译）表示，"但在劳动力短缺的田间，它将成极有价值的补充。"草莓种植高度依赖人工，而人力正日益稀缺且昂贵。多年来研究者尝试实现自动化采收，但多数系统仅在温室或高架栽培环境测试——这些场景中果实垂于叶冠下方更易触及。美国草莓多在露天田地种植，隐藏果实成为机器人采收的重大障碍。

该机器人融合多项创新技术：

• 搭载基于深度学习训练的AI视觉系统，可识别成熟果实并规划最佳采收路径
• 配备柔性抓取器实现轻柔处理
• 通过抓取器附近的导管输送气流吹开叶片，避免损伤植株

这是首项利用气流替代机械拨叶技术实现田间规模草莓机器人采收的研究。通过AI与新硬件的结合，团队证明智能算法能提升机器人在复杂多变环境中的作业效能。当前系统速度虽不及人工，但研究者估算：若部署10台四臂机器人，约43小时可采收30万颗草莓。科学家表示该技术可扩展至葡萄等其他作物。

这款草莓采摘机器人虽处于研究阶段，却是太平洋西北地区农业科技创新的缩影。上月，加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省一家蘑菇采摘机器人初创企业获4000万美元融资；西雅图地区的Carbon Robotics和Aigen公司开发了能用激光或刀片除草的田间机器人；爱达荷州TerraClear则研制出农田清石设备。

题为《遮挡环境下提升采摘效率：创新型草莓采收机器人的设计、开发与田间验证》论文的其他作者包括：华南农业大学的刘子波（音译）和周志艳（音译）；曾任华盛顿州立大学教授、现就职于康奈尔大学的Manoj Karkee；以及华盛顿州立大学荣休教授张勤（音译）。

英文来源：

Picking strawberries may seem simple, but it has proven surprisingly difficult for even the most sophisticated of robots. Berries often ripen under a canopy of leaves, making it difficult for machines to detect and harvest them without damage.
Now, researchers at Washington State University think they have a solution: an AI-guided robot that combines soft silicone grippers and a fan that blows leaves aside before plucking the fruit.
During field trials in Huizhou, China, the machine successfully picked nearly three out of every four ripe strawberries using its fan system — a 16% improvement compared to trials without the fan. Each berry took the robot approximately 20 seconds to identify and harvest.
The team, which includes scientists in China, published their results this summer in the journal Computers and Electronics in Agriculture.
“Right now, [the technology] won’t totally replace manual labor,” said lead author Zixuan He, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark. “But it could be a very promising supplement when you don’t have enough people in the field.”
Strawberry farming relies heavily on human labor, which is becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. For years, researchers have tried to automate the harvest, but most systems were tested in greenhouses or on table-top plants, where fruit hangs below the canopy and is easier to reach. The berries are more typically grown in open fields in the U.S., making hidden fruit a significant obstacle for robots.
The WSU robot combines several innovations:

• An AI-powered vision system trained with deep learning models teaches the machine to spot ripe berries and decide the best way to approach them.
• A set of soft grippers to handles the fruit delicately.
• A fan system blows air through tubes near the grippers, parting leaves without harming the plants.
  The WSU researchers’ study is the first to demonstrate field-scale robotic strawberry harvesting using airflow instead of mechanically moving the leaves. By integrating AI with new hardware, the team demonstrated that intelligent algorithms can enhance the effectiveness of robots in complex, unpredictable environments.
  The system is slower than human pickers, but researchers estimate that deploying 10 robots with four arms each could harvest about 300,000 strawberries in roughly 43 hours. The scientists said a similar approach could be applied to other crops, such as grapes.
  While still in research mode, the strawberry-picking robot is part of a wave of agtech innovation emerging from the Pacific Northwest. Last month, a British Columbia startup offering mushroom-picking robots raised $40 million. Seattle-area companies Carbon Robotics and Aigen have field robots that can identify and kill weeds with lasers or blades, while Idaho’s TerraClear developed machines that clear rocks from farmland.
  Other authors of the paper titled “Improving picking efficiency under occlusion: Design, development, and field evaluation of an innovative robotic strawberry harvester” are Zibo Liu and Zhiyan Zhou of South China Agricultural University Guangzhou; Manoj Karkee, formerly of WSU and now a professor at Cornell University; and Qin Zhang, WSU professor emeritus.