Which vegetable is the easiest for a robot to pick?
The answer has been trundling across a British field
Asparagus is a very odd vegetable. Part treat, part triffid, in its pomp it can grow up to 2cm (0.8 inches) in an hour. Cut a field one afternoon, return the next morning, and with almost sinister speed it will be back. It is minimalist, too. Whereas other vegetables spend time producing accessories such as foliage, asparagus grows as single spears: an army of Excaliburs emerging from the soil. These things make asparagus strange. They also make it superbly suited to robotic pickers.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Getting picky”
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