Automatic eggplant picking robot and target detection method

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of agricultural picking technology, and provides an automatic eggplant picking robot, which is provided with a picking actuator, a walking device, and a target detection module; a driving motor assembly and an end effector assembly are connected by a mechanical arm assembly, and a quadrilateral linkage mechanism composed of a first arm, a second arm, a third arm, and a fourth arm is combined with a synchronous belt drive. The mechanical arm assembly has a compact structure and high pitch dynamic performance. The synchronous belt drive is assisted to concentrate the mass distribution at the root, saving driving torque, and quickly positioning the end effector assembly in the automatic eggplant picking robot to a suitable position in space. The working space is adjusted by the walking device, and the target detection module realizes the detection and high-precision positioning of the target eggplant. The present invention also discloses a target detection method for the automatic eggplant picking robot, which is highly intelligent and uses machine vision to guide the robot to automatically cut the eggplant stems, thereby realizing unmanned picking operations.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of agricultural picking, and in particular to an automatic eggplant picking robot and a target detection method. Background Art

[0002] Eggplant is primarily grown in greenhouses, where the production process is relatively standardized. Within the greenhouses, rows are spaced 70-80 cm apart, and plants are 30-40 cm apart. Currently, the processes of planting, caring, and harvesting eggplant are primarily performed manually. However, the roots of mature eggplant are tough, making manual shearing difficult and labor-intensive. This process requires bending or squatting, resulting in high labor intensity and low efficiency. Automated eggplant harvesting is an advanced agricultural technology designed to improve the efficiency and precision of eggplant harvesting through the use of automated equipment. The automated eggplant harvesting system, which includes a visual recognition system and a robotic system, enables efficient, precise, and reliable harvesting, significantly improving agricultural production efficiency and product quality.

[0003] CN221178502U discloses a round eggplant harvesting device, comprising a base, a collecting basket and a fixed seat fixed on the surface of the base, a side of the collecting basket rotatably connected to a flip plate, the lower end of the base rotatably connected to a moving wheel, a shock-absorbing structure rotatably connected between the base and the moving wheel, a rotating servo fixed inside the fixed seat, the upper end of the rotating servo transmission connected to a positioning plate, the upper end of the positioning plate rotatably connected to a variable frame, the upper end of the variable frame rotatably connected to a rotating servo, the interiors of the variable frame and the rotating frame are both provided with rotating servos, the upper end of the rotating frame is connected to a drive motor, and the surface of the drive motor is transmission connected to a harvesting saw blade.

[0004] CN109618670B discloses an intelligent robot for picking and sorting fruits and vegetables, comprising a walking and lifting mechanism, a terminal picking mechanism, a fruit receiving and conveying mechanism, a conveying and sorting mechanism and an induction control system, wherein: the walking and lifting mechanism comprises a mobile base and a lifting platform mounted on the mobile base; the terminal picking mechanism is mounted on the lifting platform and comprises a multi-section mechanical arm, a front-end mechanical claw, and a shearing mechanism mounted on the mechanical claw, which moves to the position of fruits and vegetables through the multi-section mechanical arm, grabs fruits and vegetables with the mechanical claw, and cuts off the fruit stems with the shearing mechanism; the fruit receiving and conveying mechanism is mounted on the lifting platform and comprises a fruit receiving net bag and a fruit conveying pipe connected to the bottom of the net bag, wherein the diameter of the fruit conveying pipe is larger than the diameter of one fruit or vegetable and smaller than the diameter of two fruits and vegetables, and the fruits and vegetables picked by the mechanical claw are The fruits and vegetables are sent into the receiving net bag and fall one by one from the fruit delivery pipe; the conveying and sorting mechanism is installed on the surface of the lifting platform, which includes a slope section, a conveying section and a sorting section in sequence. The slope section is located at the starting end of the conveying section, including an inclined bottom plate and baffles on both sides, and the starting position of the slope section is located directly below the fruit delivery pipe. The conveying section includes an active roller, a driven roller and a conveyor belt. The sorting section is located at the end of the conveying section, including a bracket, a steering valve installed on the top of the bracket, and a sorting plate installed on the steering valve. A plurality of fruit and vegetable frames are placed side by side on the movable base facing the end of the sorting plate. The fruits and vegetables dropped from the fruit delivery pipe roll down to the conveying section through the slope section and are sent to the sorting section. The sorting section selects the corresponding fruit and vegetable frame for unloading according to the size and maturity of the fruits and vegetables; the induction control system includes a controller, Multiple infrared sensors, gravity sensors and visual sensors connected to the controller are installed side by side on the baffles on both sides of the slope section to sense the rolling distance of fruits and vegetables. The detected data is sent to the controller, and the controller calculates the diameter of the fruit based on the distance data. The specific diameter calculation method is that each pair of infrared sensors calculates a fruit diameter value D = La*t / 2-b*t / 2, where L is the distance between the two side plates, a is the speed of light emitted by the infrared sensor on one side of the baffle, b is the speed of light emitted by the infrared sensor on the other side of the baffle, and t is the time it takes for the light emission to hit the fruit and reflect back to the receiver. Then, the multiple infrared measurement data are averaged to obtain the diameter of the fruit. The gravity sensor is installed on the conveyor belt as shown in the table below. The surface senses the gravity of fruits and vegetables above the conveyor belt and transmits the weight value back to the controller. The controller calculates the fruit maturity R=G / C based on the weight value and the diameter of the fruit, where G represents the weight of the fruit and C represents the volume of the fruit, which is calculated by the diameter. The fuzzy PID analysis system is then used to calculate the maturity coefficient of each fruit and compare it with the maturity threshold preset in the controller. If it exceeds the threshold, it means it is over-mature and a separate fruit and vegetable box must be placed. If it does not exceed the threshold, its circumference is compared with the pre-stored size in the controller. If it is larger than the pre-stored size, it is placed in a fruit and vegetable box. If it is smaller than the pre-stored size, it is placed in another fruit and vegetable box. The visual sensor is installed on the mechanical claw to obtain the position of the fruit.

[0005] CN108401682B discloses an end effector of a spherical fruit picking robot, comprising a cylinder, a connecting rod, an actuator body and a cutting mechanism; wherein the actuator body comprises a cylindrical shell, a connecting plate, a push rod, a push plate and a second supporting ring; the cutting mechanism comprises a cutting rod assembly; one end of the connecting rod is connected to the piston of the cylinder, and the other end is connected to the push rod; the bottom surface of one side of the cylindrical shell is open, and the bottom surface of the other side is connected to the connecting plate; a first through hole is provided in the center of the connecting plate, and the push rod is not connected One end of the connecting rod passes through the first through hole, enters the interior of the cylindrical shell, and is connected to the push plate; a second circular groove is provided on the outer side of the cylindrical shell, the second circular groove is coaxial with the cylindrical shell, and a second supporting circular ring is provided in the second circular groove; the cutting rod assembly includes a first cutting rod, a first fixing block and a blade; one end of the first cutting rod is connected to the first fixing block and the blade in sequence along a direction perpendicular to the rod body, and the other end is a free end; the side surface of the cylindrical shell is axially opened from the bottom surface of the opening to the side connected to the connecting plate 20. The repairing kit for automotive dents, according to claim 19, wherein a bottom of the foot stand comprises a through-hole, and the two foot pieces comprise two bosses, wherein the bosses comprise a through-hole, a screw bolt, and a nut. The bosses comprise a through-hole, a screw bolt, and a nut. The bosses comprise a through-hole, a screw bolt, and a nut. The bosses comprise a through-hole, a screw bolt, and a nut.

[0006] Due to the regular arrangement of eggplant plants in greenhouses, robots can be used to replace manual labor in daily eggplant care and picking operations. Currently, harvesting robots used for spherical fruits have complex structures, cumbersome control processes, and complex walking and robotic arm structures that are difficult to adapt to the limited space in greenhouses, resulting in poor harvesting results. Summary of the Invention

[0007] Long-term practice has found that harvesting robots must fully consider the working environment during operation. The structure of the robotic arm directly affects the efficiency of subsequent operations. Since eggplants grow between lush plant branches, usually only increasing the number of robotic arms to increase the degree of freedom often leads to complex entire mechanical structure, which in turn leads to complex control algorithms and cannot effectively adapt to technical problems such as picking operations in limited spaces.

[0008] In view of this, the present invention aims to propose an automatic eggplant picking robot comprising: a picking actuator, a walking device, and a target detection module;

[0009] The picking execution mechanism includes a drive motor assembly, a mechanical arm assembly, and an end effector assembly; one end of the mechanical arm assembly is connected to the drive motor assembly, and the other end of the mechanical arm assembly is connected to the end effector assembly; the mechanical arm assembly includes a first arm, a second arm, a third arm, and a fourth arm, and the drive motor assembly includes a first drive motor and a second drive motor; one end of the first arm is connected to the power output shaft of the first drive motor, and the other end of the first arm is connected to the second arm and the third arm through a first shaft; one end of the fourth arm is connected to the end effector assembly, and the other end of the fourth arm is connected to the second arm and the third arm through a second shaft; the power output shaft of the second drive motor is fixedly provided with a first synchronous wheel, the first shaft is provided with a second synchronous wheel and a third synchronous wheel, and the second shaft is provided with a fourth synchronous wheel, the first synchronous wheel and the second synchronous wheel can be powered by a synchronous belt, and the third synchronous wheel and the fourth synchronous wheel are powered by a synchronous belt;

[0010] The walking device includes a chassis mechanism and a hub motor, the picking actuator is connected to the chassis mechanism through a screw assembly, the chassis mechanism is connected to the hub motor, and the hub motor is used to drive the wheels;

[0011] The target detection module is fixedly provided on one end of the robotic arm assembly connected to the end effector assembly; the target detection module is used to identify ripe eggplant fruits.

[0012] In one embodiment, a first reduction mechanism is provided between the power output shaft of the second drive motor and the first synchronous wheel, and a second reduction mechanism is provided between the power output shaft of the first drive motor and the first arm;

[0013] The first speed reduction mechanism and the second speed reduction mechanism are respectively detachably connected to the bracket, and the bracket is fixedly connected to the screw nut.

[0014] In one embodiment, the first arm can be connected to the output shaft of the second reduction mechanism through a first connecting seat, a bearing seat is provided between the second synchronous wheel and the third synchronous wheel, and the first arm can be connected to the first shaft through the bearing seat; the second arm and the third arm can be connected to the two ends of the first shaft through the second connecting seat and the third connecting seat respectively; the second arm and the third arm can be connected to the second shaft through the bearing seat respectively.

[0015] In one embodiment, the fourth arm can be connected to the second shaft via a second connecting seat.

[0016] In one embodiment, the second synchronous wheel and the third synchronous wheel have the same size and the same number of teeth.

[0017] In one embodiment, the end effector assembly includes an electric cutting assembly, and the electric cutting assembly is detachably connected to the fourth arm.

[0018] In one embodiment, the chassis structure includes a chassis bracket, a steering wheel and at least two wheels, the hub motor is coaxially arranged in the wheel, and the chassis bracket is a plurality of connecting rods connected end to end to form an internal space capable of accommodating an energy storage battery; the chassis bracket is connected to the steering wheel, and the chassis bracket is connected to the wheel.

[0019] In one embodiment, the target detection module includes a depth camera and a host computer module, wherein the depth camera is used to collect image data and detect the target; the host computer module is connected to the depth camera and is used to receive the image data transmitted by the depth camera.

[0020] The present invention also discloses a target detection method for executing the above-mentioned automatic eggplant picking robot, the target detection method comprising:

[0021] Step S1: training a YOLO-based object detection model and deploying the trained object detection model to a depth camera;

[0022] Step S2, using a depth camera to collect image data, calculating the relative position between the target eggplant and the depth camera, and calculating the relative position between the target eggplant and the electric cutting component;

[0023] Step S3, calculating the required movement distances of the screw assembly and the first arm, the second arm, the third arm, and the fourth arm in the robotic arm assembly, and controlling the first drive motor, the second drive motor, and the screw assembly to perform operations.

[0024] The present invention provides a machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions being used to enable a machine to execute the target detection method of the present application as described above.

[0025] The disclosed automatic eggplant picking robot is provided with a picking actuator, a walking device, and a target detection module. A driving motor assembly and an end effector assembly are connected via a mechanical arm assembly. A quadrilateral linkage mechanism consisting of a first arm, a second arm, a third arm, and a fourth arm is combined with a synchronous belt drive. A first driving motor drives the first arm to adjust the mechanical arm angle, and a second driving motor transmits power to the second, third, and fourth arms through first, second, third, and fourth synchronous wheels, enabling mechanical movement and angle adjustment. The structure is simple and easy to operate and control. The mechanical arm assembly utilizes a parallelogram linkage mechanism, resulting in a compact structure, high pitch dynamic performance, flexible end angle operation, separate degrees of freedom, and simple control solutions. Assisted by a synchronous belt drive, the drive mass distribution is concentrated at the root, saving the required drive torque. The interaction of the two allows the end effector assembly in the automatic eggplant picking robot to be quickly positioned to a suitable position in space. The working space is adjusted by the walking device, and the target detection module quickly converts the spatial position of the target into control instructions for the first and second drive motors, enabling detection and high-precision positioning of the target eggplant, thus achieving high-precision operation. The present invention also discloses a target detection method for the aforementioned automatic eggplant picking robot, which makes the entire robot more intelligent, capable of quickly adjusting the working space, performing highly reliable and accurate identification and positioning measurement of the target eggplant root, and guiding the robot to automatically cut the eggplant stem based on machine vision, realizing unmanned picking operations.

[0026] Other features and advantages of the present invention will be described in detail in the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] The accompanying drawings, which constitute part of the present invention, are intended to provide a further understanding of the present invention. The exemplary embodiments of the present invention and their descriptions are intended to explain the present invention and do not constitute an undue limitation of the present invention. In the accompanying drawings:

[0028] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of an automatic eggplant picking robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 2 This is a schematic structural diagram of a mechanical arm assembly of an automatic eggplant picking robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the chassis structure of an automatic eggplant picking robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 4 This is a schematic structural diagram of a screw assembly of an automatic eggplant picking robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the connection structure between the yaw motor and the bracket of the automatic eggplant picking robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Marking Description

[0034] 1 drive motor assembly 2 robotic arm assembly

[0035] 3 End effector assembly 4 Chassis mechanism

[0036] 5 wheel hub motor 11 first drive motor

[0037] 12 Second drive motor 13 Yaw motor

[0038] 14 screw drive motor 15 support seat

[0039] 16 screw 17 screw support rod

[0040] 21 First arm 22 Second arm

[0041] 23 third arm 24 fourth arm

[0042] 31 target detection module 32 electric cutting component

[0043] 41 first axis 42 second axis

[0044] 51 first synchronous wheel 52 second synchronous wheel

[0045] 53 third synchronous wheel 54 fourth synchronous wheel

[0046] 6 Screw rod assembly 61 first connecting seat

[0047] 62 bearing seat 63 fourth connecting seat

[0048] 64 second connecting seat 65 third connecting seat

[0049] 71 first reduction mechanism 72 second reduction mechanism

[0050] 73 third reduction mechanism 81 bracket

[0051] 82 screw nut 91 wheel

[0052] 92 steering wheel 93 chassis bracket DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] The following describes the specific embodiments of the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to illustrate and explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0054] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solutions of the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0055] It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. in the specification and claims of the present invention and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way can be interchanged where appropriate to facilitate the embodiments of the present invention described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not explicitly listed or are inherent to these processes, methods, products, or apparatuses.

[0056] In the prior art, the harvesting robot must fully consider the working environment during the operation process. The structure of the mechanical arm directly affects the efficiency of the subsequent operation. Since eggplants grow between lush plant branches, usually only increasing the number of mechanical arms to increase the degree of freedom often leads to complex mechanical structure, which in turn leads to complex control algorithms and cannot effectively adapt to harvesting operations in limited spaces. The present invention provides an automatic eggplant harvesting robot, such as Figure 1-3 As shown, the automatic eggplant picking robot includes:

[0057] The automatic eggplant picking robot includes: a picking actuator, a walking device, and a target detection module 31;

[0058] The picking execution mechanism includes a drive motor assembly 1, a mechanical arm assembly 2, and an end effector assembly 3; one end of the mechanical arm assembly 2 is connected to the drive motor assembly 1, and the other end of the mechanical arm assembly 2 is connected to the end effector assembly 3; the mechanical arm assembly 2 includes a first arm 21, a second arm 22, a third arm 23, and a fourth arm 24, and the drive motor assembly 1 includes a first drive motor 11 and a second drive motor 12; one end of the first arm 21 is connected to the power output shaft of the first drive motor 11, and the other end of the first arm 21 is connected to the second arm 22, the fourth arm 23, and the fourth arm 24 through a first shaft 41. The third arm 23 is connected; one end of the fourth arm 24 is connected to the end effector assembly 3, and the other end of the fourth arm 24 is connected to the second arm 22 and the third arm 23 through a second shaft 42 (42); the power output shaft of the second drive motor 12 is fixedly provided with a first synchronous wheel, the first shaft 41 is provided with a second synchronous wheel 52 and a third synchronous wheel 53, the second shaft 42 is provided with a fourth synchronous wheel 54, the first synchronous wheel 51 and the second synchronous wheel 52 can be powered by a synchronous belt, and the third synchronous wheel 53 and the fourth synchronous wheel 54 are powered by a synchronous belt;

[0059] The walking device includes a chassis mechanism 4 and a hub motor 5. The picking actuator is connected to the chassis mechanism 4 via a screw assembly 6. The chassis mechanism 4 is connected to the hub motor 5. The hub motor 5 is used to drive the wheel 91.

[0060] The target detection module 31 is fixedly provided at one end of the robotic arm assembly 2 connected to the end effector assembly 3 ; the target detection module 31 is used to identify ripe eggplant fruits.

[0061] The present invention discloses an automatic eggplant picking robot equipped with a picking actuator, a walking device, and a target detection module 31. A driving motor assembly 1 and an end effector assembly 3 are connected via a mechanical arm assembly 2. A quadrilateral linkage mechanism consisting of a first arm 21, a second arm 22, a third arm 23, and a fourth arm 24 is combined with a synchronous belt drive. A first driving motor 11 drives the first arm 21 to adjust the arm angle, and a second driving motor 12 transmits power to the second, third, and fourth arms 22, 23, 24 via first, second, third, and fourth synchronous wheels 51, 52, 53, and 54, enabling mechanical movement and angle adjustment. The robot arm assembly 2 utilizes a parallelogram linkage mechanism, resulting in a compact structure, high pitch dynamic performance, flexible end angle operation, separate degrees of freedom, and simple control. The synchronous belt drive is used to centralize the drive mass distribution at the root, saving the required drive torque. The interaction of the two allows the end effector assembly 3 in the automatic eggplant picking robot to be quickly positioned in space. By adjusting the working space through the walking device, the target detection module 31 quickly converts the spatial position of the target into control instructions for the first drive motor 11 and the second drive motor 12, which can realize the detection and high-precision positioning functions of the target eggplant, and realize highly reliable and accurate identification and positioning measurement of the target eggplant root. Based on machine vision, the robot is guided to automatically cut the eggplant stem, realizing unmanned picking operations.

[0062] In order to reduce the output speed of the drive motor and increase the torque, improve the accuracy and stability of the torque output, achieve more precise operation of the robotic arm, and improve the high precision and high stability of the entire system. In a preferred embodiment, a first reduction mechanism 71 is provided between the power output shaft of the second drive motor 12 and the first synchronous wheel 51, and a second reduction mechanism 72 is provided between the power output shaft of the first drive motor 11 and the first arm 21;

[0063] The first and second reduction mechanisms 71, 72 are each detachably connected to a bracket 81. To further secure the connection between the entire picking actuator and the robot body, the housings of the first and second drive motors 11, 12 are fixedly connected to the bracket 81. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, to improve the accuracy and stability of torque output and reduce vibration during power output, the first and second reduction mechanisms 71, 72 comprise harmonic reducers. The power output shafts of the second and first drive motors 12, 11 are coaxially connected to the second and first reduction mechanisms 72, 71, respectively.

[0064] In order to better realize the vertical and horizontal movement of the picking actuator, such as Figure 4-5In a preferred embodiment, a screw drive motor 14 drives the screw 16 to rotate. The screw 16 is vertically fixed to the chassis mechanism 4 via a screw support rod 17. Rotation of the screw 16 causes the screw nut 82 and the support base 15 to perform linear motion in a vertical and horizontal direction. The bracket 81 is fixedly connected to the power output shaft of the yaw motor 13. The bracket 81 can rotate a certain angle in accordance with the rotation of the yaw motor 13, thereby achieving horizontal rotation of the entire picking actuator. The screw nut 82 is fixed to the support base 15. More preferably, the screw nut 82 and the support base 15 are integrally formed. The yaw motor 13 housing is fixed to the support base 15 via threads. The support base 15 is provided with a through hole for extending the power output shaft of the yaw motor 13 so as to connect with the bracket 81. In another more preferred embodiment, to achieve a more precise rotation angle, a third reduction mechanism 73 is coaxially fixed between the bracket 81 and the yaw motor 13.

[0065] During the target eggplant picking process, due to the interweaving of plant stems and leaves, it is a complex automated operation task. In order to ensure the flexible movement and precise control of the robot arm at each joint, in a preferred embodiment, the first arm 21 can be connected to the output shaft of the second reduction mechanism 72 via the first connecting seat 61. A bearing seat 62 is provided between the second synchronous wheel 52 and the third synchronous wheel 53. The first arm 21 can be connected to the first shaft 41 via the bearing seat 62; the second arm 22 and the third arm 23 can be connected to the two ends of the first shaft 41 via the second connecting seat 64 and the third connecting seat 65 respectively; the second arm 22 and the third arm 23 can be connected to the second shaft 42 via the bearing seat 62 respectively. To better achieve mechanical transmission, a bearing is provided in the bearing seat 62. For example, a bearing is provided between the bearing seat 62 and the first shaft 41, which enables rotation but limits relative movement in radial and axial directions. For high-precision rotation and better positioning, the bearing preferably includes a sliding bearing. The first connecting seat 61 is connected to the output shaft of the second reduction mechanism 72 by interference fit, and the second connecting seat 64 and the third connecting seat 65 are respectively connected to the two ends of the first shaft 41 by interference fit.

[0066] In order to better transmit power from the second shaft 42 to the fourth arm 24 and thus realize the picking operation, in a preferred embodiment, the fourth arm 24 can be connected to the second shaft 42 through a fourth connecting seat 63.

[0067] In order to keep the fourth arm 24 parallel to the first arm 21 in direction, in a preferred embodiment, the second synchronous wheel 52 and the third synchronous wheel 53 have the same size and the same number of teeth.

[0068] In order to better cut off the stems of the target eggplants and achieve rapid positioning and cutting and picking, in a preferred embodiment, the end effector assembly 3 includes an electric cutting assembly 32, and the electric cutting assembly 32 is detachably connected to the fourth arm 24.

[0069] In order to better realize the power supply of the robot, make the overall structure more stable and compact, and make the chassis more stable during walking, in a preferred embodiment, the chassis mechanism 4 includes a chassis bracket 93, a steering wheel 92 and at least two wheels 91, the wheel 91 is coaxially provided with the hub motor 5, the chassis bracket 93 is a plurality of connecting rods connected end to end to form an internal space capable of accommodating an energy storage battery; the chassis bracket 93 is connected to the steering wheel 92, and the chassis bracket 93 is connected to the wheel 91.

[0070] In order to better locate the target, in a preferred embodiment, the target detection module 31 includes a depth camera and a host computer module. The depth camera is used to collect image data and detect the target; the host computer module is connected to the depth camera and is used to receive the image data transmitted by the depth camera. The depth camera includes a binocular camera.

[0071] The present invention also provides a target detection method for executing the above-mentioned automatic eggplant picking robot, the target detection method comprising:

[0072] Step S1: train an object detection model based on YOLO (You Only Look Once) and deploy the trained object detection model to the depth camera;

[0073] Step S2, using a depth camera to collect image data, calculating the relative position between the target eggplant and the depth camera, and calculating the relative position between the target eggplant and the electric cutting assembly 32;

[0074] Step S3, calculate the required movement distances of the screw assembly 6 and the first arm 21, the second arm 22, the third arm 23, and the fourth arm 24 in the robotic arm assembly 2, and control the first drive motor 11, the second drive motor 12 and the screw assembly 6 to perform operations.

[0075] The present invention also discloses a target detection method for the above-mentioned automatic eggplant picking robot. This target detection method makes the entire robot more intelligent, can quickly adjust the working space, perform highly reliable and accurate identification and positioning measurement of the target eggplant rhizomes, and guide the robot to automatically cut the eggplant stems based on machine vision, thereby realizing unmanned picking operations.

[0076] The YOLO framework stands out for its remarkable balance between speed and accuracy, and can quickly and reliably identify objects in images. In a more preferred embodiment of the present invention, the YOLO framework includes the YOLO v8 version. Among them, the target eggplant is located in the target detection method. The main process of positioning includes:

[0077]

[0078] L is the projection of the line connecting the target eggplant and the depth camera on the horizontal plane, X is the distance from the origin in the abscissa of the depth camera coordinate system, Y is the distance from the origin in the ordinate of the depth camera coordinate system, and Z is the depth value of the target eggplant measured by the depth camera.

[0079]

[0080] Where θ1 is the angle that the yaw motor needs to rotate.

[0081]

[0082] Wherein, θ2 is the rotation angle required by the second drive motor 12 , θ3 is the angle between the axis of the second arm 22 and the horizontal plane, and L1 is the length of the second arm 22 .

[0083] H=(Y+L1sinθ3-L1sin(θ3+θ2)

[0084] Where H is the distance the screw needs to move.

[0085] The present invention provides a machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions being used to enable a machine to execute the target detection method of the present application as described above.

[0086] It should be noted that for the aforementioned method embodiments, for simplicity of description, they are all expressed as a series of action combinations. However, those skilled in the art should be aware that the present invention is not limited by the order of the actions described, because according to the present invention, certain steps can be performed in other orders or simultaneously. Secondly, those skilled in the art should also be aware that the embodiments described in this specification are all preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily required by the present invention.

[0087] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own focus. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0088] In the several embodiments provided herein, it should be understood that the disclosed devices can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units described is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components being combined or integrated into another system, or some features being ignored or not implemented. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interface, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units may be electrical or other forms.

[0089] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0090] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into a single processing unit, each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0091] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, mobile terminal, server or network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a mobile hard disk, a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0092] The foregoing description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications and variations of the present invention are possible. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, or improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention are intended to be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic eggplant picking robot, characterized in that: The automatic eggplant picking robot includes: a picking actuator, a walking device, and a target detection module; The picking actuator comprises a driving motor assembly (1), a mechanical arm assembly (2), and an end effector assembly (3); one end of the mechanical arm assembly (2) is connected to the driving motor assembly (1), and the other end of the mechanical arm assembly (2) is connected to the end effector assembly (3); the mechanical arm assembly (2) comprises a first arm (21), a second arm (22), a third arm (23), and a fourth arm (24); the driving motor assembly (1) comprises a first driving motor (11) and a second driving motor (12); one end of the first arm (21) is connected to the power output shaft of the first driving motor (11), and the other end of the first arm (21) is connected to the second arm (22) and the third arm (23) through a first shaft (41); one end of the fourth arm (24) is connected to the end effector assembly (3), and the fourth arm (24) is connected to the power output shaft of the first driving motor (11). The other end of the rod (24) is connected to the second arm (22) and the third arm (23) through a second shaft (42); the power output shaft of the second drive motor (12) is fixedly provided with a first synchronous wheel (51), the first shaft (41) is provided with a second synchronous wheel (52) and a third synchronous wheel (53), and the second shaft (42) is provided with a fourth synchronous wheel (54). The first synchronous wheel (51) and the second synchronous wheel (52) can be driven by a synchronous belt, and the third synchronous wheel (53) and the fourth synchronous wheel (54) are driven by a synchronous belt; wherein the first arm (21), the second arm (22), the third arm (23) and the fourth arm (24) constitute a parallelogram linkage mechanism, and during the power transmission process, the fourth arm (24) and the first arm (21) remain parallel in direction; The end effector assembly (3) includes an electric cutting assembly (32), and the electric cutting assembly (32) is detachably connected to the fourth arm (24); The walking device comprises a chassis mechanism (4) and a hub motor (5); the picking actuator is connected to the chassis mechanism (4) via a screw assembly (6); the chassis mechanism (4) is connected to the hub motor (5); and the hub motor (5) is used to drive a wheel (91); The target detection module (31) is fixedly provided at one end of the robotic arm assembly (2) connected to the end effector assembly (3); the target detection module (31) is used to identify ripe eggplant fruits.

2. The automatic eggplant picking robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: A first reduction mechanism (71) is provided between the power output shaft of the second drive motor (12) and the first synchronous wheel (51), and a second reduction mechanism (72) is provided between the power output shaft of the first drive motor (11) and the first arm (21); The first speed reduction mechanism (71) and the second speed reduction mechanism (72) are respectively detachably connected to the bracket (81), and the bracket (81) is fixedly connected to the screw nut (82).

3. The automatic eggplant picking robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first arm (21) can be connected to the output shaft of the second reduction mechanism (72) through a first connecting seat (61); a bearing seat (62) is provided between the second synchronous wheel (52) and the third synchronous wheel (53); the first arm (21) can be connected to the first shaft (41) through the bearing seat (62); the second arm (22) and the third arm (23) can be connected to the two ends of the first shaft (41) through a second connecting seat (64) and a third connecting seat (65) respectively; the second arm (22) and the third arm (23) can be connected to the second shaft (42) through a bearing seat (62) respectively.

4. The automatic eggplant picking robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: The fourth arm (24) can be connected to the second shaft (42) via a fourth connecting seat (63).

5. The automatic eggplant picking robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second synchronous wheel (52) and the third synchronous wheel (53) have the same size and number of teeth.

6. The automatic eggplant picking robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The chassis mechanism (4) comprises a chassis bracket (93), a steering wheel (92) and at least two wheels (91); the wheel (91) is coaxially provided with the wheel hub motor (5); the chassis bracket (93) is a plurality of connecting rods connected end to end to form an internal space capable of accommodating an energy storage battery; the chassis bracket (93) is connected to the steering wheel (92), and the chassis bracket (93) is connected to the wheel (91).

7. The automatic eggplant picking robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The target detection module (31) comprises a depth camera and a host computer module, wherein the depth camera is used to collect image data and detect targets; and the host computer module is connected to the depth camera and is used to receive image data transmitted by the depth camera.

8. A target detection method for executing the automatic eggplant picking robot according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The target detection method includes: Step S1: training a YOLO-based object detection model and deploying the trained object detection model to a depth camera; Step S2, using a depth camera to collect image data, calculating the relative position between the target eggplant and the depth camera, and calculating the relative position between the target eggplant and the electric cutting assembly (32); Step S3, calculating the required movement distances of the screw assembly (6), the first arm (21), the second arm (22), the third arm (23), and the fourth arm (24) in the robotic arm assembly (2), and controlling the first drive motor (11), the second drive motor (12), and the screw assembly (6) to perform operations.

9. A machine-readable storage medium, characterized in that The machine-readable storage medium stores instructions, which are used to enable a machine to execute the target detection method as claimed in claim 8.

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