Helping European and American farmers pick apples, the robot invented by a PhD in the US has achieved revenues of over one million | Early-stage project

Written by Hu Yiting

Edited by Yuan Silai

In a large orchard in Washington State, USA, migrant workers from Mexico are shuttling through the trees to pick apples. During the busy harvest season, these workers come from abroad at a considerable cost.

The hourly wage, visa, accommodation, and transportation costs are mostly borne by the orchard owners. It costs several thousand dollars per month to hire a Mexican fruit picker. With the current tense international situation and the uncertain immigration policies, the orchard is once again facing a labor shortage.

In response to these pain points, Daxo Industries, Inc. was established in January 2023 to solve the labor shortage problem in the fruit tree industry with robotics and artificial intelligence technologies.

In 2023, Daxo launched its flagship product, Zapper, which can be used to trim apple stems to improve picking efficiency and meet the throughput requirements of orchard production. Zapper has successfully expanded into the international market, completing pilot tests in major apple - producing areas in the United States, New Zealand, and Italy. In the 2024 production season, its sales exceeded one million RMB. In terms of usage, Zapper is installed on the edge of the fruit basket carried by the pickers. After picking an apple, the picker only needs to press it against the basket edge to trim the stem, eliminating the need for a second use of scissors. Additionally, the fruit - contacting surface is made of silicone to prevent damage to the fruit skin.

Actual use of Zapper, image source: the company

Zhang Jiahao, the founder of Daxo, told 36Kr that using Zapper during the picking process can significantly increase the picking speed and ensure the fruit quality, helping orchard owners save 7,000 - 10,000 RMB per worker during the annual harvest season.

Currently, Zapper has entered the major apple - producing areas in Europe and the United States. In addition to selling the complete product, its accessories need to be replaced every few days during use, so customers need to purchase them regularly.

Based on the Zapper product, Daxo is developing a fully automated apple stem trimming solution called Auto Zapper. This product integrates computer vision technology and a machine - learning - based control system. It can not only eliminate the labor cost in this process but also ensure the standardization and consistency of the operation results and provide data support for precision agriculture.

In terms of application, Auto Zapper can automatically align and trim the apple stems on the basis of its original functions, without the need for manual pressing. After freeing the pickers' hands, they can focus more on picking, improving the overall efficiency.

Based on computer vision technology, Auto Zapper can count information such as the number, size, variety, and quality of the fruits during the picking process. It can also count the picking quantities of different pickers and pay salaries according to the results, digitizing the orchard picking work.

In fact, the orchard picking industry has a long history. From a global perspective, according to data released by the US Department of Agriculture, as of December 2023, the world's apple production in the 2022 - 2023 production season reached 82.9 million tons. Due to the shortage of local labor and the rising cost of hiring foreign workers, companies in the United States and the Middle East have launched hardware devices aimed at improving apple - picking efficiency.

"In developed countries, due to the high labor cost, the agricultural market has a more urgent demand for automation technology. Although the current level of agricultural mechanization in China is relatively low, with the rising labor cost and policy support, agricultural automation will also become a future trend," Zhang Jiahao believes.

Although Daxo has not officially entered the Chinese market, Zhang Jiahao has conducted early investigations in some domestic apple - producing areas. After achieving large - scale production, Daxo's products will also enter the Chinese market.

Currently, Daxo is still in the product verification stage. The first product, Zapper, was invented when Zhang Jiahao was a doctoral student. To further penetrate the apple - picking field, he invited a partner with 20 years of experience in the apple industry, who is in charge of the largest apple packaging and storage facility in the eastern United States, to start the business together. As the apple harvest season in the Southern Hemisphere is approaching, the company will test Auto Zapper in New Zealand and other places. This product may be launched in the Northern Hemisphere market from August to September this year.