• Combination of AI and robotics positions Saudi Arabia to transform date farming  

KAUST has been developing a new robotic system designed to automate date palm harvesting. The system aims to disrupt the agriculture industry and position Saudi Arabia as a leader in agriculture innovation. The related research, led by KAUST Assistant Professor Shinkyu Park, focuses on automating key processes in date farming, such as harvesting, pollination and tree maintenance through AI-powered robotics, and promises to produce larger yields of more nutritious dates.  

Dates are an iconic part of the Saudi diet for thousands of years. It is also a major food product, with the value of date exports by the Kingdom increasing 10% between 2022 and 2023 and another 10% between 2023 and 2024. Throughout history, date farming has relied on an accrued knowledge of the color and texture of the date to determine its ripeness and on good physical stamina of the farmers, as they must climb tall trees and cut off their harvest using knives and other sharp objects. The ability to automate these processes – both the evaluation of the date fruit and the actual harvest – will create a steadier supply of the highest quality dates and less risk to the workers.  

Park's solution, "robotic farmers", combines robotics for reliable farming and AI for greater efficiency. The robotic arms of the system will be able to move as quickly as a human farmer while precisely picking each date without damage – to itself or the fruit. By equipping them with high-precision visual sensors, the robotic farmers can distinguish individual dates, flowers, and tree structures to execute various farming tasks like harvesting, spraying, and pruning, which ensures the health, productivity, and longevity of the trees and reduces the risk of pest infestations and diseases. 

Overall, while the best farmers spend decades accumulating their expertise, the system's AI component will enable the robots to learn much faster than any human possibly can. 

"We see the robots starting as apprentices and gradually honing their skills in date farming routines, quickly becoming experts," said Park. 

Ultimately, Park aims to have his robotic farmers handle dates of various sizes and firmness while maximizing the harvest rate. Analogous to a real farmer who learns by working in the field, as the robots operate and collect data, AI will improve their productivity by enhancing their capabilities for many of the tasks associated with date farming.  

Field trials are scheduled to begin during the 2025 harvest season, with full operational capability expected within three years. Park suggested that a Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) model could allow smaller farmers to benefit from the technology without the burden of purchasing the robots outright. 

"We are developing robotics technologies that support national interests. Our cost-effective automation solutions for the date palm industry are just one example," said Park. 

The project is just one of many at KAUST that will benefit date farming and food security. At the end of 2024, the National Center for Palms and Dates signed an agreement to fund SAR 100 million ($25 million) to KAUST for innovations in the date sector.  

Such projects provide Saudi Arabia an advantage not just in agricultural technology but in agricultural expertise, as leaders in farming and robotics will be attracted to the region, and laborers here will be the first to engage with the new technologies developed by Park and his colleagues. 

"I'm excited that this initiative extends beyond engineering solutions and cultivates research and development opportunities for local talent, contributing to the long-term sustainable educational and economic growth of the Kingdom," he said.