Considerations for a multi-purpose agrobot design toward automating skillful viticultural tasks: a study in northern Greece vineyards – HAICTA 2022, Athens, Greece

Seasonal labor shortages in agriculture are experienced throughout Europe and beyond especially, but not only, during the harvest time when the demand for hands is high as well as urgent. Agrobots have been established as a sustainable solution to support these growing demands due to their capacity to work incessantly, fast as well as with skillful precision.  In the aforementioned context, this work investigates the design of a single multi-purpose robotic system towards automation of a number of skillful viticultural practices. Best practices are recorded thoroughly according to the needs of local northern Greek wineries through interviews with experts. Possibilities and limitations for robotic implementation are discussed and appropriate end-effectors are outlined.