Designed to be simple and safe, the inflatable arm can locate an apple, extend, and gently pick the fruit in about 25 seconds. The two-foot-long arm, made of a durable soft fabric filled with air, weighs less than 50 pounds, including its metal base.
Researchers from WSU’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering are collaborating with the Prosser Research Extension Center and Manoj Karkee at Cornell University to adapt the arm for use on an automated, mobile platform designed to navigate orchard rows.
The uncomplicated nature of the design makes it low-cost, easy to maintain, and highly reliable for a soft robot.
Ming Luo, Study Corresponding Author and Flaherty Assistant Professor, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University
Tree fruit growers around the world are grappling with labor shortages, especially for time-sensitive tasks like harvesting and pruning.
In the US, Washington state leads the nation in apple and sweet cherry production - industries that contributed over $2 billion to the country’s GDP in 2023 alone. Each year, farms across the state rely on hundreds of workers for essential orchard activities, including pollination, pruning, flower thinning, and harvesting. But with an aging workforce and a decline in available migrant labor, many growers are finding it increasingly difficult to meet labor demands during peak harvest seasons.
While traveling across the state this fall, Luo saw something that stuck with him: apples scattered on the ground, left to rot.
“It is just a waste,” he said.
In recent years, researchers have started developing robotic systems to help with apple harvesting, but most are too large, costly, or complicated to be practical in real-world orchards.
That’s where the WSU team took a different path.
Their robotic arm is built from an inflatable tube and costs about $5500 in materials. Because it’s filled with air, it’s incredibly lightweight. This means that it's safe to use around people and gentle enough not to bruise fruit or damage delicate branches. The robot is also designed with today’s orchard layouts in mind, such as V-trellis systems or linearly arranged branches, which make harvesting more efficient.
Having this very low-cost, safe robotic platform is ideal for the orchard environment.
Ryan Dorosh, Ph.D. Candidate and Study Lead Author, Washington State University
Right now, the robotic arm is still slower than a human picker; it takes about 25 seconds to pick an apple, compared to just three seconds for a person.
But the researchers are working to close that gap. They’re refining the mechanical components and focusing on improving the arm’s basic detection system, which currently slows down the process more than the arm’s actual movement.
Beyond picking, the team is also exploring ways to make the arm more versatile, enabling it to handle other orchard tasks like pruning, flower thinning, and spraying. The idea is to offer a cost-effective, multi-use tool that farmers can afford to buy in multiples, giving them extra hands when and where they need them most.
To help bring the technology to market, the team is working with WSU’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship on intellectual property protection and commercialization efforts.
The project is also backed by funding from the National Science Foundation, the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission. Field testing took place at Allan Brothers Fruit in Prosser, Washington.
Journal Reference:
Dorosh, R., et al. (2026) An everting inflatable fabric manipulator (EIFM) designed for apple picking. Smart Agricultural Technology. DOI: 10.1016/j.atech.2025.101635. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525008664?via%3Dihub