Farmers in Cornwall are testing a machine invented using European funding that picks cauliflowers from the field without bruising them.

It works like the human hand by squeezing each cauliflower to determine if it is ready for harvesting.

The robotic cauliflower-picking arm is the work of Dr Martin Stoelen of the University of Plymouth.

“A lot of producers are very worried about where they will get their reasonably priced manual labour from – and rightly so,” says Dr Stoelen.

Harvesting cauliflower can be difficult because the vegetable can be bruised easily. The robot first assesses each cauliflower to make sure its head is firm and white using cameras and sensors on its ‘fingers’.

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