<story><title>Indian robot climbs trees to harvest coconuts</title><url>https://newatlas.com/robotics/amaran-coconut-harvesting-robot/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dxbydt</author><text>I grew up in a remote village in south India. We had over two dozen coconut trees in our yard. I made a long loop in the mud that went around all these trees. I&amp;#x27;d pull water out of the well using a rope &amp;amp; pulley &amp;amp; pour it down the loop. The water would wind its way until it reached all the two dozen trees. About an hour of this water pulling &amp;amp; the loop would stay wet for a few hours. This sort of manual work was standard fare for a young teen. Even then, in the 1970s, there was a shortage of coconut harvesters. The ones who showed up to harvest coconuts were quite poor, thin with ribs showing, and were well known through the village for this skill. It was quite a dangerous task - due to rains some of the trunks could be quite slippery. There were snakes in many of these trees! As a kid I wanted to learn, so they tied a rope around my waist to get me to clamber up the coconut tree. I wasn&amp;#x27;t able to - you get calluses on your palms &amp;amp; feet &amp;amp; it cuts through the skin as well. If you stick a tall ladder next to the tree, and climb to the topmost rung, you can tie an iron sickle to a rod &amp;amp; using the sickle, chop off the coconuts - but you have to stay clear of the falling coconuts! So a robot harvester of this sort is quite welcome. Its a pretty ingenious device.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>eeretekeh</author><text>I am from a southern district of Tamil Nadu.&lt;p&gt;Here, we follow a different method to cut the coconuts. The harvesters do not climb the tree. Instead, they tie together bamboo poles to form one long pole and tie a sickle to one end. The harvester then cuts the coconut bunch from the ground.&lt;p&gt;It is much more efficient and faster than climbing the trees. When I was young, I was fascinated by their craft. They are so good, that they could determine how ripen the coconuts were just by looking from the ground. Some times from very tall trees that are over 100 feet tall. And to balance a pole that large..</text></comment>
<story><title>Indian robot climbs trees to harvest coconuts</title><url>https://newatlas.com/robotics/amaran-coconut-harvesting-robot/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dxbydt</author><text>I grew up in a remote village in south India. We had over two dozen coconut trees in our yard. I made a long loop in the mud that went around all these trees. I&amp;#x27;d pull water out of the well using a rope &amp;amp; pulley &amp;amp; pour it down the loop. The water would wind its way until it reached all the two dozen trees. About an hour of this water pulling &amp;amp; the loop would stay wet for a few hours. This sort of manual work was standard fare for a young teen. Even then, in the 1970s, there was a shortage of coconut harvesters. The ones who showed up to harvest coconuts were quite poor, thin with ribs showing, and were well known through the village for this skill. It was quite a dangerous task - due to rains some of the trunks could be quite slippery. There were snakes in many of these trees! As a kid I wanted to learn, so they tied a rope around my waist to get me to clamber up the coconut tree. I wasn&amp;#x27;t able to - you get calluses on your palms &amp;amp; feet &amp;amp; it cuts through the skin as well. If you stick a tall ladder next to the tree, and climb to the topmost rung, you can tie an iron sickle to a rod &amp;amp; using the sickle, chop off the coconuts - but you have to stay clear of the falling coconuts! So a robot harvester of this sort is quite welcome. Its a pretty ingenious device.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jelliclesfarm</author><text>I visited South Indian villages during summer vacations and my grandfather had 5 coconut trees in his urban garden. Someone will come by to climb and harvest the coconut when it’s time to get them down. One of my fav memories is him tossing green coconuts into the water well during summer. It will keep cool even when it’s crazy hot temperatures and we will just fish one out when the kids get thirsty.&lt;p&gt;Tender green coconuts will float because of the fibrous outer covering. Climbing the trees was dangerous and seemed scary. Coconut trees have no branches and it’s literally climbing all very rough tall pole barefoot. Amazing. I can understand why there’d be a shortage. The coconut climber was always in demand!</text></comment>