Virtual reality is the human-machine interface for this robotic vineyard worker

In Oregon, Digital Harvest, a Virginia-based agricultural solutions company who recently established a research outpost at the Pendleton UAS Test Range, developed the Remote Operated Vineyard Robot, a fully mobile concept demonstrator for the wine industry.

The one-of-a-kind technology developed over the last eighteen months is unique in that it bypasses many of the persistent technical challenges of machine learning and intelligence by keeping a human operator in the loop via a virtual reality interface.

“We tried many types of tools to operate the robotic arms, such as joysticks and game controllers, but none were capable of allowing the system to operate at the similar level of accuracy or speed as traditional skilled workers,” said company CEO Young Kim. “By using virtual reality as an operator interface, we not only improved manual dexterity but also opened up the possibility of human workers being able to teleport to work from anywhere.”