A new generation of cauliflower pickers have been unveiled at a gathering of the most cutting edge tech firms from across the region - and they're from the future.
Scientists working on the Agritech Cornwall project have invented a robotic arm that can pick tomatoes and raspberries and even make cauli harvesting easy for farmers across the South West.
Kirsten Ayris, Project Administrator for Agritech Cornwall at the University of Plymouth said that the technology behind the bio-inspired arm has been years in development and is part of the ABC project - Automated Brassica Harvesting in Cornwall.
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"This robotic arm has got tendons almost like a human would have. This can shake hands, we have one for tomato picking, for picking raspberries and harvesting cauliflower that has two arms with a gripper and a custom made cutter, like cheese wire to cut and lift the cauliflower."
Kirsten explained how agri-tech is a developing sector and Agritech Cornwall has also developed small robots that replicate swarm behaviours demonstrated by bees and starlings.
They are able to perform tasks like soil work analysis, imaging and disease detection and they can communicate with each other to flag up any problems.
She said: "It's not anywhere near completion, it is in prototyping stage but we are hoping in the next year or so to get in the field and do some proper testing.
"So far we have had great reaction with some farmers coming forward to offer test sites for us. It can be difficult to get lab based research out in the world as if to say 'look at this and see what it could be in the future'. This is a good way to get to know people."
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Formed in 2016, Venturefest South West champions the most cutting-edge innovation, technology and entrepreneurship coming out of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. It brings together talented small enterprise innovators and entrepreneurs from across the region along with investors on the lookout for emerging talent. The event is part of the larger Venturefest network which has events running across the 海角视频.
More than 20 start-ups and entrepreneurs were showcased as part of the event , held at Sandy Park in Exeter on June 17.
It was an opportunity to see the latest technology and prototypes from the region and the trends and innovations that might become part of daily life in the years ahead.
Rich Adams, Venturefest SW steering group member and corporate project manager, University of Plymouth, said: "Award winning, life-changing, environment-saving and entertaining, the South West generated tech on show covers AI, health technology, drones, data analysis, gaming, live entertainment and e-commerce with products that are finding solutions to today’s challenges.”
Donna Lyndsay, Business Applications Regional Ambassador (South West England and South Wales) for the European Space Agency, said that the data generated by space technology brings huge opportunities for small businesses across Devon and the South West.
She said: "Space is for everybody, my role is not to do with rockets but to get people to use the data.
"Everyone uses a mobile phone and sat nav - everyone uses space data. It's about opening eyes up on that kind of thing."
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She said that the agriculture sector is a big potential market for big data because it needs to know what's going on on the earth for things like conservation and land management.
"You might not immediately put Devon and space together but nearly half of the 150 companies we work with are Devon based companies. There's a real demand for companies in agritech, logistics and blockchain. It's so wide and varied what we can do."
James Fairbairn, business development manager for Aerospace Cornwall, said that space is not just about launching rockets.
"There's some really cool stuff going on like businesses using satellites to check for air quailty. There's some really good ideas coming out of satellite data.
"Aerospace Cornwall has £4.5million for research and development funding and we are working with 50 businesses to take their products forward."
Spaceport has recently secured £20million funding to get a horizontal space launch underway in the coming years.
"The spaceport is generating huge amount of interest from investors who want to locate and create jobs here."
"Space often doesn't seem relevant but its not just about rocket launches its about what we can do with that data."
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