We are currently experimenting with cherry tomatoes. The species reaches maturity after an average of 72 days and its fruits have a diameter of around 3cm. Both the size as well as the strong color contrast (red on green) make cherry tomatoes a good candidate for grasping by visual servoing.

Since October 2008, we are growing the plants inside the CSAIL building under artificial light and fertilize with coffee grounds (*). As of January 2009, the plants went through multiple fruit cycles - albeit with reduced number of fruits - and survived a massive white flys invasion.

(*) Coffee grounds is very reach in nitrates and potassium. It does not contain phosphorus, however, which is required for fruit growth.