Autonomous Pollination Robot System for Indoor Vertical Strawberry Farming: Development and Experimental Evaluation

Abstract

Indoor vertical strawberry farming requires efficient and consistent pollination due to the lack of natural pollinators. This study proposes an autonomous robotic system for pollination in indoor vertical farms, addressing labor shortages and the limitations of manual methods. The system defines pollination units based on farm structure and performs tasks through a behavior tree-based control architecture that integrates navigation, perception, and manipulation. Field experiments conducted in a commercial indoor vertical strawberry farm showed an average pollination success rate of 70%. The developed autonomous pollination robot reliably operated in narrow aisles and varying shelf heights. These results confirm the system’s ability to perform precise pollination under spatial constraints and validate its feasibility for real-world deployment. This work contributes a practical approach for automating pollination in structured indoor agriculture, enabling scalable and labor-free operation that supports year-round fruit production.