Method of controlling a robotic harvesting device

An apparatus for picking a target piece of fruit from a plant, the apparatus comprising:

• a picking device for detaching the target piece of fruit from the plant;
• a maneuvering mechanism for moving the picking device along a path towards the target piece of fruit;
• one or more sensors for capturing data representative of positions of the target piece of fruit and one or more obstacles;
• and
• processing circuitry operable to:
• determine a position of the target piece of fruit to be harvested from the plant using the data captured by the one or more sensors;
• determine a position of the one or more obstacles relative to the target piece of fruit using the data captured by the one or more sensors;
• and
• plot the path for the picking device to be moved along from a starting position to a picking position by the maneuvering mechanism, wherein the path is plotted such that the movement of the picking device along the path serves to move at least some of the one or more obstacles relative to the target piece of fruit such that the one or more obstacles do not impede the picking of the target piece of fruit by the picking device.