NC team develops AI-powered stake setter for tomato fields
With North Carolina's tomato season in full swing, researchers at NC State University are working on a new innovation that could change how tomatoes are grown across the country. The North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative’s Makerspace team is developing an AI-powered system to automate the manual process of placing stakes in tomato fields—a task that usually requires placing at least 2,000 stakes per acre.
Placing stakes is necessary to keep tomato plants off the ground, reducing their risk of disease and making harvesting easier. But this work is repetitive, tiring, and hard to staff. That’s where this new project comes in.
Emmanuel Torres Quezada, a specialist in horticultural science, and Andrea Monteza, Makerspace director, are collaborating with Fernando Fuentes, a biosystems engineer from Chile’s Universidad de Talca. Together, they are designing a tractor-pulled machine with a smart mechanical arm that can automatically grab and place stakes at correct intervals. The system uses AI and sensors to guide the process and avoid harming young plants or underground irrigation lines.
To make the AI system work, they need about 100,000 images to train it. The team is now testing a tractor-mounted imaging tool that can capture and upload those images directly from farm fields.
Other team members include Brad Lewis, manager of the NC Ag Analytics Platform, and student collaborators Connery Tran, Vy Hoang, John Glenn II, and Ryan Babcock. Their work aims to support farmers by improving efficiency and reducing their dependence on limited labor resources.
This effort highlights how modern technology can solve real-world problems in agriculture.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-bastetamn