Deep in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, açaí berries have been hand-picked for generations – a physically demanding job that sees harvesters climbing tall palm trees and plucking the fruit by hand. Now, a new robot crafted by Brazilian engineers is changing the game 🤖🍇.
Using advanced sensors and mechanical arms, the robot can climb palm trunks, identify ripe clusters with precision and pick berries at up to three times the speed of humans. For local harvesters, this means more berries per day and safer working conditions, with take-home pay increased by nearly 30% 💰.
This breakthrough arrives as Brazil prepares to host the COP30 Climate Summit in December 2025. Organizers are showcasing the technology as an example of climate-smart innovation: it reduces waste by picking only ripened berries and cuts down on multiple transport trips, lowering carbon emissions 🌱🌍.
'This robot has transformed our routine,' says Marília Silva, leader of a harvest cooperative in Pará state. 'We're earning more while working less dangerously on the palms.'
Beyond açaí, experts see potential for robotics in other tropical crops like cocoa or oil palms. As investors and researchers take note, Brazil's açaí fields may become a testing ground for agri-tech solutions across the tropics 🤔.
With COP30 just weeks away, Brazil's homegrown robot highlights how innovation can marry sustainable practices with community benefits – promising a future where that purple superfruit bowl gets greener from farm to table 🌺.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
