How do you build a robot that can pack fruit? Or pick up produce without hurting it? In an era where agricultural firms are facing labor shortages and the average worker in the field is 46, automation is becoming an increasing necessity.
The FORBES AgTech Summit Thursday featured a fascinating conversation between Bruce Taylor, the founder and CEO of Taylor Farms, and Dan Harburg, the Director of Business Development for Soft Robotics. Taylor Farms is a customer of and investor in Soft Robotics, a Cambridge-based robotics company.
Taylor became acquainted with Soft Robotics when he caught a demo of their robot arm in Chicago. The arm uses a gripper made of a soft material that mimics the way an octopus grips. Taylor immediately struck up a conversation with the robotics firm and learned that at the time, Soft Robotics only had 3-1/2 people. He noted with some bemusement for the crowd that Taylor Farms was a company with 14,000 jobs that automation could augment – how could 3-1/2 people manage that? (“And how do you have half a person?” he mused out loud.)
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Forbes
