On July 28, the 2026 Smart Agriculture Innovation Competition was held at Fuxi Farm in Xiong’an. A truss-tomato harvesting robot developed by the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASIA), made its competition debut and delivered an outstanding performance, taking first place in the greenhouse cherry-tomato harvesting robot category.

The competition was jointly organized by the Information Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Hebei Province, and the Xiong’an New Area Administrative Committee. It featured six agricultural technology application categories, including greenhouse cherry-tomato harvesting robots, laser weeding robots, and intelligent agricultural machinery control. Teams from more than 70 universities, research institutes, and companies across China competed in practical challenges designed around real-world production scenarios.

In the greenhouse cherry-tomato harvesting category, robots were required to operate in a standard multi-span glass greenhouse and use autonomous perception and manipulation capabilities to identify and locate ripe tomato trusses, harvest them without damage, and place them precisely. Operating entirely without human intervention and causing no damage to the vines, branches, or leaves, CASIA’s robot successfully harvested 75 tomato trusses within 30 minutes. It topped the rankings by a decisive margin, earning a total score of 200 points and a linear score of 100.00.

CASIA’s truss-tomato harvesting robot completed the entire damage-free harvesting and precision-placement process to a high standard. Its performance not only demonstrated the reliability of applying artificial intelligence to modern agriculture, but also provided a valuable real-world example for the large-scale deployment of “farms of the future.”

Smart Agriculture Innovation Competition (report by CCTV News Channel)

Truss-tomato harvesting robot competition (live footage from CCTV Agriculture and Rural Affairs Channel)

The R&D team at the competition venue

Award ceremony