Robert Dudley was trying to design a system that would pick out the ripe cauliflowers that were ripe amidst the leaves. However, he ended up discovering a system that can decide when the strawberries are ripe for picking. His system uses imaging with microwave, light and terahertz radiation. He found that the microwave radiation, that is very sensitive to water, is ideal for picking up the ready to eat ripe strawberries. Of course, the red strawberries can be picked out well when they are under a light camera but covered by leaves, it was difficult for a light imaging system to pick out. However, with microwave radiation could see through relatively dry leaves and spot strawberries easily.
The catch here is that though the farmers may not have the advanced imaging tools, it is possible that such a system coupled with robotic arms could automatically pick strawberries. This would save a lot of labor of picking strawberries.
