Faces of Technology
Robotizing
Produce Picking
Chances are good that strawberry lovers have consumed a berry from Florida . It ’ s the top strawberry-producing state from November to March and second only to California yearround – a status Harvest CROO Robotics is determined to maintain .
Robert Pitzer , chief technical officer , and the company ’ s team of engineers , including several students from the University of South Florida , are hard at work developing an automated picking , packaging and datastoring machine .
“ We ’ re developing automated trackers weighing about 30,000 pounds that can maneuver through fields with repeatability within an inch ,” said Pitzer . “ We use militarygrade precision GPS to guide them and every plant in the field is mapped . I can tell you how many pounds of strawberries we pulled off a plant in a season and the quality of the berries that were picked from that plant .”
According to Pitzer , about 21 percent of the nation ’ s strawberry farmers have invested in the project . Many of them would have adopted the technology “ yesterday ,” since it integrates easily with the growing methods some have refined over more than 50 years .
Robert Pitzer
Chief Technical Officer Harvest CROO Robotics | www . harvestcroorobotics . com
Education : B . S . in Mechanical Engineering , University of Florida
Company : Harvest CROO Robotics was established in 2013 as a technology company focused on revolutionizing the agriculture industry with automation .
The Tampa company ’ s proprietary vision system , which dictates which fruit should be picked based on ripeness , was heavily influenced by Pitzer . He ’ s been researching and developing automated processes long before co-founding Harvest CROO Robotics .
Pitzer wanted to build a robot submarine from the time he stepped foot in the Machine Intelligence Laboratory ( MIL ) as a student at the University of Florida . A veteran of the U . S . Navy Submarine Force , he was inspired to study automation by his previous work on submarines and their nuclear reactors .
“ I walked into the lab , stood at the front and asked , ‘ Who wants to build a robot
submarine ?’” he said . “ Two people raised their hands and , before you know it , we started the UF SubjuGator program .”
UF SubjuGator , the autonomous underwater vehicle project designed and built by students of the MIL , launched Pitzer into the world of robotics competitions .
He continued to compete in local competitions , as well as the televised “ BattleBots ” and “ Robot Wars ” – all while refining advanced manufacturing systems for Intel Corporation , managing his own engineering firm and launching several startups based on automated technologies . He ’ s also proud to have revitalized production technology for student matches hosted by the U . S . FIRST Organization ( For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology ).
It was Pitzer ’ s professional network with robotics enthusiasts across the U . S . that would eventually lead him to co-found Harvest CROO Robotics , where his hobby now has the potential to change the world .
florida . HIGH . TECH 2017 39