Key Takeaways:
- DEEP Robotics has deployed two robot models — the LYNX M20 wheeled-legged robot and the X30 quadruped robot — to transport freshly picked tea leaves at the Longwu Standardized Tea Plantation in Hangzhou.
- The robots operate in partnership with JD Logistics as part of a broader effort to address labor and logistics challenges during the spring tea harvest.
- Both models can navigate paths as narrow as 50cm and slopes up to 45°, enabling them to operate on the steep, narrow mountain terrain typical of the West Lake Longjing production area.
- West Lake Longjing pre-Ming tea leaves must reach processing workshops within approximately one hour of being picked to preserve quality, making transport speed a critical factor.
- The deployment builds on DEEP Robotics' earlier agricultural work, which included a crop transport project involving the Fuling pickled mustard tuber harvest in Chongqing.
DEEP Robotics and JD Logistics Target Spring Tea Harvest Logistics
DEEP Robotics, in partnership with JD Logistics, has deployed quadruped and wheeled-legged robots at the Longwu Standardized Tea Plantation in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, to assist with transporting freshly picked tea leaves during the spring harvest season.
A Long-Standing Logistics Challenge in Premium Tea Production
Labor Pressures in Rural Tea Farming
West Lake Longjing is one of China's most prized tea-producing regions, but its mountainous terrain has historically made harvest logistics difficult. Farmers have traditionally carried heavy bamboo baskets of freshly picked leaves down steep, narrow mountain paths by hand — work that is physically demanding and carries injury risk.
Rural labor shortages have added further pressure to the sector in recent years, with fewer young workers available for this type of physically intensive work. These factors have kept productivity largely stagnant despite strong demand for premium spring teas.
