Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) has been awarded $540,000 to study whether artificial intelligence-powered robots can help greenhouse growers harvest strawberries more efficiently while improving crop monitoring and reducing labour demands.
Dr. Li Ma, a research scientist at KPU’s Institute for Sustainable Horticulture (ISH), is partnering with Nupeak Robotics on a three-year project to evaluate emerging technology from the Burnaby, B.C.-based company.
Supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Mitacs, the project is centred around Pixa, Nupeak’s fruit-harvesting robot. Li and her team, which includes student researchers, will analyze the robot’s ability to pick strawberries during nighttime hours and investigate how data collected by the robot’s cameras could be used to detect pests and diseases earlier and more efficiently.
“Canada’s agriculture sector is facing increasing labour challenges while also looking for new ways to improve productivity and sustainability,” says Ma, who is also a faculty member in the School of Horticulture at KPU. “This project will help us better understand how cutting-edge technology could support growers by automating repetitive harvesting tasks and providing valuable crop health information. At the same time, it will generate applied knowledge and hands-on research opportunities for students in emerging areas of agricultural technology.”
Supporting that student-focused research component with Li is Simon Fraser University professor Dr. Woo Soo Kim, an expert in agritech and physical AI, who will co-supervise a master’s student working on the project.
Strawberry harvesting requires careful handling because the delicate fruit must be picked by hand to avoid bruising and damage. Researchers say harvesting during cooler nighttime periods could improve fruit quality and potentially extend shelf life, while allowing growers to focus daytime labour on plant care, pest monitoring and other crop-management activities.
Researchers will test the robot at the ISH research greenhouses in Langley, B.C. during the first two years of the project before evaluating its performance in a commercial greenhouse setting in the third year.
Nupeak’s Pixa robot is an autonomous machine that can pick delicate strawberries using a soft gripper attached to an articulating arm. As it moves through crops, the robot also captures visual data to provide insights into plant health and pest conditions. KPU researchers will investigate whether that data can help growers identify pests and diseases earlier than traditional weekly crop inspections.
The research will provide new insights into the potential of robotics and AI in greenhouse production, says Dr. Deborah Henderson, director at ISH.
"We're interested in understanding how well these technologies perform under real growing conditions and what additional value they might provide beyond harvesting," says Henderson. "If a robot is already moving through a greenhouse every day, it may also be able to collect information that helps growers make more informed decisions about crop health and resource use."
Henderson adds robotics is proving valuable in the agriculture sector, which is experiencing a chronic labour shortage.
Anshul Porwal, CEO and co-founder of Nupeak Robotics, says harvesting fruit is far more complex than factory automation because every plant and berry is different. Nupeak’s Pixa robot learns from skilled pickers and continuously improves its harvesting decisions with each berry it picks.
“Growers need their crop picked on time, gently and consistently,” says Porwal. “Working with KPU helps us turn promising technology into a dependable commercial tool. Every pass through the greenhouse also builds a living picture of the crop: what’s growing, what’s ripening and what will be ready next. By following every berry as it grows, they may spot problems early, before a small issue spreads across the farm."
The Institute for Sustainable Horticulture at KPU works with industry and community partners to advance sustainable practices, ecosystem health and innovation in agriculture, horticulture and urban landscapes. Through projects such as this, students gain opportunities to participate in applied research while helping develop technologies that could shape the future of food production.
