Baku, January 27, AZERTAC Japanese researchers have developed a robot to help fruit farmers, according to NHK World-Japan. The robot equipped with artificial intelligence can pick apples and pears at almost the same speed as human workers.The participants in the robot project include the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University and auto parts maker Denso.The robot's arms each have three nails for picking fruit. It is pulled by a self-driving golf cart.The AI technology determines if the fruit is ready to be harvested by checking the color and other points.The robot takes about 11 seconds to pick a single fruit- about the same time as a human worker.A researcher at the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization says he wants to improve the robot to reduce the burden on farmers. He says he hopes more young people will become interested in farming as fruit growers are aging and there is a labor shortage.