Flower farming, known as floriculture, is a tough job. Flowers are tender. They have to be harvested gently, to prevent them from being bruised or broken. And each variety of flower presents its own special harvesting challenges. Up to now, floriculture harvesting has been done mostly by hand.
Jung Yun Bae, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and applied computing at Michigan Technological University, wants to help flower farmers automate that task. She is developing a robotic harvesting system that she hopes will help small flower farms streamline their harvesting process.
The decline in agricultural workers poses a significant obstacle to the sustainability of flower farming, Bae explains.
“This project aims to address the labor shortage by developing a robotic platform that integrates advanced technologies, including mechanical design, artificial intelligence, modern control algorithms and autonomous navigation,” she says.
It could provide a cost-effective solution for flower farmers.
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Courtesy of Jung Yun BaeA lavender-harvesting robot in action.
Bae will test her robotic harvesting system at Lucky Clover Farm in Gaylord this spring. Lucky Clover Farm grows seven lavender species, each exhibiting unique stem and flower characteristics. Each needs to be harvested differently, to protect the flowers from damage.
Lucky Clover Farm
Jeanne and Josh Mouch operate Lucky Clover Farm. It’s named for the clover that they initially grew. In 2019, Jeanne decided that she wanted to focus on growing lavender, even though Josh says northern Michigan's harsh climate isn’t very lavender-friendly.
“Jeanne embraced that challenge, becoming a specialist in cold-climate lavender farming,” Josh says.”
Jeanne handles the business side of the lavender farm, while Josh focuses on the technology front.
There’s a big market for lavender. It’s used as a culinary ingredient in a variety of foods: baked goods, such as lavender cookies and cakes; sauces and rubs, and lavender salt to season roast meats and vegetables. It’s also used in essential oils, handmade soaps and sachets.
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Courtesy of Jeanne MouchJeanne Mouch Last year, Lucky Clover Farm grew 8,000 lavender plants, a number that Josh says has been doubling annually.
Jeanne wound up with nerve pain from her heavy labor in the lavender fields. A software engineer, Josh started looking for a technological solution.
“Small farms like ours don’t have the luxury of multi-million-dollar harvesting equipment,” he points out. “Everything — planting, weeding, harvesting, and processing—is done by hand. It’s rewarding, but incredibly labor-intensive. We’re hoping she (Bae) can develop a robotic solution to handle some of the most physically demanding farm tasks — reducing strain on the farmers and making small-scale farming more sustainable. If successful, this research could help not just our farm, but small farmers across Michigan and beyond.”
Michigan Tech’s Work
Bae’s research project is funded by a $423,300 farm innovation grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The work includes developing multi-robot coordination algorithms, manipulators with a customized cutting system and mobile platforms with multiple sensors for autonomous navigation.
“Imagine a team of helpful robots working together in a lavender field. That's essentially what we're building,” she says. “Our system is designed to efficiently find, pick and collect lavender, all without human intervention. Here's how it works: Picture a lavender farm with rows of different lavender species. Each row contains multiple bushes, and we have a general idea of where each bush is located. This is where our smart robotic system comes into play. Our software development focuses on creating a smart, coordinated system for multiple robots.”
A central coordinator, like a farm manager, assigns specific bushes to each robot and determines the order in which they should be visited. It manages operations while communicating with and monitoring the robots.
For each bush, a task planner creates a step-by-step guide for the robot. This includes navigating to the assigned bush, precisely locating the bush, grabbing a portion of the lavender and cutting it, loading the harvest into the robot's basket, doing it again until the entire bush is harvested, and then moving on to the next assigned bush and repeating the process. When a robot's basket is full, it will automatically unload the harvested lavender at a designated station.
The robots are battery-operated. They will visit charging stations as needed to ensure they can continue working throughout the day.
Bae’s team is also designing a digital simulation of the lavender farm for thorough testing before field deployment.
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Courtesy of Jeanne MouchLucky Clover Farm in Gaylord sells hand-harvested, organically grown, culinary lavender.
“On the hardware side, we're making significant strides in developing a custom-designed harvesting end-effector system that will enable the robot to interact with the lavender and tailored mobile platforms equipped with carefully selected sensors and batteries,” the researcher goes on to say. Michigan Tech is purchasing the base hardware platforms. Bae’s team will customize them with specialized sensors that enable them to do exactly what they need to do in the lavender fields.
“This system allows for a smooth, continuous harvesting operation across the entire lavender field, maximizing efficiency and minimizing the need for human oversight or intervention,” Bae says.
After successful pilot testing, Michigan Tech will work with the Michigan Manufacturing Growth Alliance (MGA) to reduce the cost barrier to adoption by farmers through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)’s Industry 4.0 Grant program. The software and hardware platforms developed will be open-sourced to the public to additionally lower the barriers to the automated system.
“This project promises to streamline lavender harvesting and holds the key to transforming the future of small-scale agricultural automation in the Michigan farming landscape,” Bae says.
Even if the pilot project works, the researcher is not thinking about rushing the robotic harvesters into mass production.
“We're taking a measured approach to manufacturing," she says. “Our current focus is on perfecting the technology through rigorous testing and real-world application at Lucky Clover Farm.”
She also plans to continue working with Jeanne and Josh Mouch.
“They are starting strawberry farming this year, which is exciting,” she explains. Working with them, Bae plans to expand her research into different crops and extended farming capabilities.
“This project is a steppingstone towards refining and commercializing our technology, potentially revolutionizing small-scale agriculture across various sectors,” Bae says. “By showcasing the possibilities of intelligent, autonomous systems in farming, we hope to contribute to a more sustainable and productive agricultural future.”
What got Bae interested in this project?
“I love lavender. It's beautiful and smells awesome. Bringing lavender and my expertise area together seemed perfect for me, and we have the ideal partner to make it come true. This project represents a unique opportunity to combine the beauty of lavender farming with cutting-edge robotics and AI. It's not just about technology — it’s about enhancing a beloved agricultural tradition with modern innovation.”
Jennifer Donovan is a reporter with more than 40 years of experience on daily newspapers, magazines and university writing and editing. She is retired as director of news and media relations at Michigan Technological University and lives in Houghton.