According to a story in the Globe Online, Israeli and US scientists have developed a vision-guide robot that picks watermelons. The vision system has achieved an 85% success rate at selecting ripe melons so far. A little more info on the robot, named VIP ROMPER, (and a small, fuzzy photo) can be found in the September issue of Israel High-Tech Investment. A photo of the melon-gripper can be found in this research paper, which also shows an ealier prototype of the robot. And, in case you were wondering about the name, it comes from: Volcani Institute Purdue university RObotic Melon PickER.