Robotic Pruning System Under Development For Vineyards

A six million dollar grant has been awarded to Purdue University to develop a robotic pruning system that will be capable of pruning grapevines to the same level of quality as hand labor.

Project leader Peter Hirst, Department of Horticulture, in collaboration with members of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue, and Vision Robotics of San Diego, CA, is working to develop and improve machines that use cameras and robotic arms for pruning in vineyards.

The primary issues motivating this research are cost reduction and concerns about the future availability of seasonal labor. According to Michigan State University Extension, pruning is one of the most expensive operations in a vineyard, accounting for about 20% of labor costs, and the availability of workers for pruning can be uncertain.