Moon rover-inspired robot could be a game-changer for Japan’s aging farmers

Japan’s population is the oldest in the world, with a third aged over 65, and one in 10 aged over 80, due to a combination of low fertility rates and high life expectancy.

(CNN) — Japan’s population is the oldest in the world, with a third aged over 65, and one in 10 aged over 80, due to a combination of low fertility rates and high life expectancy.

This has a direct effect on its working-age population — the share of 15 to 64 year-olds — which is projected to shrink by 30 million people between 2020 and 2070.

Agriculture is particularly hit by the problem: according to Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the number of people mainly employed in farming halved between 2000 and 2023, and those aged under 60 only make up about 20% of the total.

To combat this shortage, along with a more relaxed stance on immigration and fertility policies, the country is increasingly looking at robotics to supplement the workforce.

Tamir Blum founded Kisui Tech while still a student, in 2021 — a company that is using technology from space exploration to build an AI-assisted farming robot. “In the past 20 years or so, 50% of the farmers have retired, meaning that there’s more and more burden on fewer and fewer farmers to keep producing a stable food supply,” he says.

The semi-autonomous robot is called Adam and is able to carry picked produce across difficult terrain as well as cut grass and spray fields with pesticides. Blum, an Israeli-American who first visited Japan in 2015, returned to the country in 2018 for a PhD during which he researched lunar rovers and their ability to navigate bumpy and uneven terrain.

“During that PhD program, I traveled a lot around the Japanese countryside,” he says, “You can tell how much difficulty (it) is having with the labor shortage. You see many abandoned houses … The farmers are clearly getting older … I realized how difficult it was, and also the great potential for this type of off-road robotics technology to be applied, especially for outdoor orchards, which are also very, very bumpy — similar to what I was researching for space robotics.”

Kisui Tech is working with the Agriculture Department at Chiba University, near Tokyo, in developing two models of Adam — a full-size and a mini version — and testing them in real-life scenarios on farms around Japan.

The larger Adam is 70 centimeters high and 188 centimeters in length, and is aimed primarily at apple and pear farmers, with a large truckbed to carry produce or fertilizer. The smaller Adam, about one third of the size, is targeting grape and persimmon farms, which are planted in narrower rows. Alongside the robots, Kisui is also developing an online platform called Newton, which gives farmers real-time insights into crops, diseases, and farm management. Adam is expected to retail for around $20,000 on international markets.

“I’ve been really amazed by the reaction of the farmers,” says Blum, “because in Japan, I think most people would have a stereotype that farmers are very traditional: they don’t like technology, they’re not willing to try new things. However … they’ve been very receptive, very willing to give advice, very willing to try Adam.”

Adam is approaching commercial release and has been radically transformed from early versions based on feedback from the farmers. For example, a touchscreen was replaced by a panel with physical buttons, because farmers often wear gloves, which don’t work well with touchscreens.

Kisui recently completed its first paid proof of concept to automate patrol and data collection at a solar plant for a Japanese power company. Blum says it has also received requests from the construction industry, looking to use the robot for patrols, security and transporting heavy goods.

“We see Adam as a tool, not just for farming, but basically all outdoor work,” says Blum.

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