Robots could replace human crop pickers in the UK ZDNet

Robots may one day replace human crop pickers in the UK in light of a decline in the seasonal labor market. GummiArm, a soft robot capable of crop picking, is the brainchild of researchers from the University of Plymouth. Academics from the institution and producers from Cornwall have worked together to create robots which could work alongside existing employees in the crop picking industry through the Automated Brassica harvest in Cornwall (ABC) project. The aim of the project is to develop "cutting-edge technology to help with the cauliflower harvest and potentially other fieldwork operations." The GummiArm was born from this need, especially in light of labor market fluctuations following the decision on Brexit. The UK relies on migrant labor during the picking season, and over the course of the last year, there has been a 29 percent decline in worker volumes with thousands of vacancies being left unfilled.