"I'm a bit of a robot, like my machines ..."
The current harvesting machines have a rough deal with cranberry and other fruits, producing bruises and repeated blows that are not immediately visible, but as it progresses its journey to destination the deterioration is noticeable. This robot was created just to solve this problem and take care of the fruit.
Tecnogenius is a company of Chillán, focused on the manufacture and sale of agricultural machinery, founded by Alex Cisternas, who has a very particular history and linked to his many inventions. The businessman and inventor had a car accident that cost him the amputation of his legs and based on his knowledge he made his first prosthesis, which allowed him to walk again.
Álex Cisternas was always an inventor and since he was a child he turned his ideas into reality, no matter how crazy they were. At the age of 24 he left for Germany and at the Kuka company he became familiar with the world of robotics, working as a programming technician for the development of robots and machines for the agricultural industry. He then traveled to Spain and later to Sri Lanka, India, where he created the first foreign company in that location. "I did it because I always had a facility for creating agro-industrial processes," he told the press years ago.
That stage of his life, travel, challenges and search, were very important when he needed strength and knowledge to recover from his accident.
The bionic arm
Alex Cisternas is always inventing new machines and solutions for the challenges that agriculture has, the last thing he is about to divulge is a robot for harvesting blueberries with bionic arms and moving with solar energy.
The blueberry is very delicate when harvested for export as fresh fruit, which is why almost all mechanized forms have failed. It is not a task for anyone since the slightest blow or pressure threaten the quality of the fruit, so the challenge of Cisternas was not minor. And everything indicates that he got the irons to have the human delicacy, because one of the characteristics of his robot is that it collects the fruits of any bush, in crops of any size, with the same delicacy as a hand of flesh and bone.
According to his testimony, what inspired him was the lack of manpower for an industry with a strong growth potential, because "If there is no labor for the current plantations, it is impossible to think about future orchards", Explain.
The robot, which operates by means of hydraulic four-wheel drive systems, has four large arms and measures 2,5 meters high, by 2.5 meters long, and has 2.0 meters wide. For its construction, suitable and special materials were searched for not to cause damage to the bloom, which is a very delicate veil that surrounds the fruit of the cranberry.
"After three years of development we have managed to develop a machine that is an extremely compact, easy to move machine that, unlike the large current harvesting machines, can transit through the orchards, in addition to turning in small spaces", tell Blue Magazine.
The operation of the equipment consists of a system of assisted collection or Robotic big and vibration system, a patented system that treats the fruit with great delicacy, in addition to very high efficiency in the quantity of harvested product. This system can also be applied to raspberries and morons, and once massified could allow many companies to continue with the development of new orchards and certainly, drastically lower the current harvest costs, which are increasing.
Quality of collection
With the machinery invented by Cisternas, the fruit remains the same as if it were harvested by hand, without damage due to blows or significant rubbing, for which it can be exported to any market.
The current harvesting machines have a rough deal with cranberry and other fruits, producing bruises and repeated blows that are not immediately visible, but as it progresses its journey to destination the deterioration is noticeable. This robot was created just to solve this problem and take care of the fruit.
Low cost
Another important aspect is the cost. The current machines border the USD130.000, so the vast majority of producers do not have access to these equipment. The alternative offered by Alex Cisternas will be on the market costing only 25% of these amounts.
On the other hand, the mechanization of the harvest is urgent, due to the lack of manpower, which has become a problem that increases year by year.
"He ismust bet to support and finance new technologies ", declares Cisternas, who has touched many doors of public organizations without results.
"In the last season we did field tests in the Bío Bío region, with optimal results and very good yields, we were waiting for international patents, which were recently granted, which allows us to start looking for financing necessary to mass-produce our machines ", tells us Cisterns, and promises to invite Blue Magazine to the public debut of its now famous blueberry harvester called "Bionic arm", which will be released on 2016.
Contact: acisternas9@gmail.com phone: 42-2545086 / 959498217
Source: Blueberrieschile.cl - Blueberriesconsulting.com
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