Integrated aerial flying robot for harvesting bunched fruits

Abstract

The invention relates to a picking robot, in particular to a string type fruit harvesting integrated aerial flying robot which comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle, a balance telescopic sliding rail is arranged at the bottom of the unmanned aerial vehicle, a rotating motor is arranged at the telescopic end of one side of the balance telescopic sliding rail, and a flexible mechanical arm is connected to an output shaft of the rotating motor. A picking actuator is arranged at the tail end of the flexible mechanical arm, a binocular camera is arranged at the tail end of the flexible mechanical arm and located on the side edge of the picking actuator, a fruit basket is connected to the fixed end of the other side of the balance telescopic sliding rail, and the fruit basket and the flexible mechanical arm are arranged on the two sides of the unmanned aerial vehicle correspondingly. According to the device, string-type fruit picking can be completed in the high-altitude environment and the branch shielding environment, the fruit breakage rate is reduced, the labor cost is saved, the safety and the working efficiency are improved, and efficient and low-loss harvesting integration is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a picking robot, and more particularly to an aerial flying robot used for integrated bunch fruit harvesting. Background Art

[0002] Drones play an important role in many fields due to their flexibility, cost-effectiveness and versatility. They can complete various tasks that are difficult to complete manually in complex environments. Visual inspection mainly simulates human visual functions through computers, extracts target information from pictures or videos presented in the field of view, and processes and understands the data through different algorithms to achieve tasks such as detection, identification, positioning, measurement, and classification of target objects. The bionic design of the flexible arm can imitate the work of real human arms to the greatest extent, and it is flexible and easy to realize integrated control with other equipment. It has good safety and human-computer interaction, and is widely used in many engineering fields.

[0003] According to investigations and research, the application of high-altitude string-shaped fruit picking robots in the current domestic and international markets is still in the development stage. In the traditional lychee and longan planting model, mature lychees, longans and other string-shaped clustered fruits are harvested in the high-altitude tree canopy, high above the ground and severely blocked by branches and leaves. The picking method is basically manual picking. Fruit farmers need to climb above the tree canopy with the help of ladders, determine the position of the fruit, break it with their hands or cut the fruit stalk with scissors, and then put the picked fruit into the fruit basket. This traditional picking method is highly dangerous, has high labor costs, low operating efficiency, and a poor working environment, which to a certain extent restricts the development of the high-branch fruit industry.

[0004] Chinese patent application publication specification CN219514661U discloses a drone picking device, wherein a picking device and a collecting device are installed at the front end of the drone, and a shear-type end is used to separate the fruit from the fruit stem, and the fruit falls into the basket for collection. The picking drone has poor positioning accuracy for the fruit, and can only pick the fruit exposed outside the branches at a high place, but cannot pick the fruit growing inside the fruit tree, and the front fruit basket is easily scratched with the branches, which may cause the drone to lose control; Chinese invention patent application publication specification CN115735561A discloses a digital-based fruit picking intelligent drone, wherein the lower end of the picking drone is equipped with a rigid four-axis mechanical arm to pick the fruit, the design structure is relatively traditional, the mechanical arm has poor flexibility, is heavy, and has high load-bearing performance for the entire body, there is no fruit basket to collect the picked fruit, the integrated picking design is poor, and the influence of wind resistance on the mechanical arm during high-altitude operation is not considered.

[0005] In order to overcome the shortcomings of existing drone picking, such as interference and loss of control, poor flexibility of the robotic arm, and difficulty in picking fruits due to branches and leaves blocking the fruit, and to increase the adaptability of drone picking to complex growth environments such as high altitude and obstruction of fruit, the present invention starts from the perspective of increasing the stability of the drone's flight, accurate visual identification and positioning of fruits, and flexible control of the robotic arm, and designs an aerial flying robot that can cope with the integrated harvesting of bunched fruits in high altitude and branch-obstructed environments. Summary of the invention

[0006] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an aerial flying robot for integrated bunch fruit harvesting, which can complete the picking of bunch fruits in an environment of high altitude and tree branch shielding, save manual labor, have high safety and high work efficiency, and realize the integration of high-efficiency and low-loss picking and collection.

[0007] The purpose of the present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0008] An aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting comprises a drone, wherein a balanced telescopic slide rail is arranged at the bottom of the drone, a rotary motor is arranged at the telescopic end of one side of the balanced telescopic slide rail, a flexible mechanical arm is connected to the output shaft of the rotary motor, a picking actuator is arranged at the end of the flexible mechanical arm, a binocular camera is arranged at the end of the flexible mechanical arm, and the binocular camera is located on the side of the picking actuator, a fruit basket is connected to the fixed end of the other side of the balanced telescopic slide rail, and the fruit basket and the flexible mechanical arm are respectively arranged on both sides of the drone;

[0009] The flexible robotic arm comprises a plurality of support discs arranged side by side, the plurality of support discs are connected by a support frame, one end of the support frame is fixedly connected to the support disc at the capital, the other end of the support frame is fixedly connected to the support disc at the tail end, and the support disc at the head end is fixedly connected to the output shaft of the rotating motor; a plurality of rope-driven motors are fixedly connected to the support disc at the head end, each rope-driven motor is equipped with a reducer, each reducer is connected to a steel wire rope, and a plurality of wire-through ports are arranged on each support disc, and the steel wire rope passes through the plurality of support discs through the wire-through ports and is fixedly connected to the support disc at the tail end;

[0010] There are four rope-driven motors, which are arranged in a circular array on the supporting disc; the rope-driven motors and the reducer constitute a driving device that pulls the steel wire rope to realize the movement of the entire flexible robotic arm, so that the flexible robotic arm presents a "snake-shaped" or "elephant trunk-shaped" shape;

[0011] The support frame is made of flexible material, has a centrally-through structure, and the support disc and the support frame have a geometric shape with low wind resistance;

[0012] The picking actuator is connected to the supporting disc at the tail end through a rotating mechanism, and there is a clamp on each of the left and right sides of the picking actuator, and cutting blades are arranged in both clamps;

[0013] The cross-section of the middle part of the balanced telescopic slide rail is a trapezoidal surface, and the cross-sections of the left and right ends of the balanced telescopic slide rail are rectangular surfaces. A notch is provided at the bottom of the drone, and the length part of the trapezoidal cross-section of the balanced telescopic slide rail cooperates with the notch of the drone. The balanced telescopic slide rail is used to adjust the counterweight of the fruit basket and the flexible mechanical arm on both sides of the drone to keep the drone balanced.

[0014] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0015] Flexible robotic arms can reach high altitudes through drones for picking, eliminating the dangerous operation of relying on ladders to pick at high altitudes in traditional methods. Especially in high altitudes, bushes and rugged working environments, remote operations by drones can ensure the safety of workers. Secondly, drones can improve work efficiency and work quality to a certain extent. The binocular cameras and flexible robotic arms equipped with drones can achieve high-precision picking. Drone high-altitude fruit picking is a new and potential technology application. With the continuous development of drone technology, drone high-altitude operations will be used more and more in the field of agriculture, and will become one of the tools for high-altitude fruit picking in agriculture in the future.

[0016] The flexible robotic arm is a redundant degree of freedom robot designed based on the principle of bionics, and its appearance is similar to biological structures such as elephant trunks and octopus tentacles. The flexible robotic arm adopts a form similar to joint series to imitate the continuum structure of organisms, and uses rope drive to simulate the tendon drive of organisms. It has high degrees of freedom, a large working range, and good human-computer interaction. In addition, the rope drive method eliminates the need to install power devices such as stepper motors at the joint connections of the robotic arm, and only uses a flexible material as the skeleton of the entire arm, which greatly reduces the structural size and weight of the moving parts, and reduces the load energy consumption of the drone working at high altitudes. In addition, the rope-driven redundant robotic arm has high flexibility when working, and can successfully complete the fruit picking task in an environment blocked by branches and leaves;

[0017] The joints of this flexible robotic arm use a whole support frame, and its appearance is a long strip. The supporting disc and frame and other structures present an airfoil shape. According to aerodynamics, the more streamlined an object is, the less wind resistance it encounters. The shape of the joints and each section of the robotic arm directly affects the stability of the robotic arm working at high altitudes. Compared with the two-degree-of-freedom Hooke's joints of traditional flexible rope-driven robotic arms, the left and right wind resistance encountered by this support frame at high altitudes is smaller. Therefore, the stability of this flexible rope-driven robotic arm working at high altitudes is stronger than that of ordinary flexible rope-driven robotic arms, which improves stability during harvesting;

[0018] The picking end effector uses a clamp-shear integrated end effector, which is lightweight and easy to operate, reducing the complexity of control and overall quality. It can complete the clamping and shearing actions at the same time, greatly improving the picking efficiency. This design reduces the operating steps in the picking process, allowing the picking robot to complete the picking task faster and shorten the picking time for each fruit. By adjusting the position of the micro switch and the relative position of the blade clamp, it is suitable for different types of bunch-type fruit shearing and picking, which makes the actuator highly adaptable and can be used in different agricultural environments;

[0019] Binocular cameras can not only accurately identify and locate the position of fruits and fruit stems through stereo vision technology, but also provide high-precision depth information, allowing the picking flying robot to more accurately control the movement of the robotic arm, which is crucial for aerial flying robots that pick bunches of fruits, because they need to accurately find and pick fruits in an environment blocked by branches and leaves. Secondly, in a planting environment where fruit trees are densely arranged, remote locations, rugged roads, and changing lighting conditions, binocular cameras can help the picking flying robot navigate and avoid obstacles in complex environments by obtaining three-dimensional information about the environment in real time;

[0020] The balanced telescopic slide rail can slide back and forth at the bottom of the drone to adjust the picking position of the flexible robotic arm and balance the weight ratio of the flexible robotic arm and the fruit basket in the front and rear of the drone. The rotary motor controls the rotation of the flexible robotic arm at the upper front of the balanced telescopic slide rail, driving the end effector to place the picked fruit bunches in the fruit basket at the rear, realizing the integrated picking and collection of the entire machine. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the aerial flying robot for picking bunch-shaped fruits of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 2 is a side view of the aerial flying robot for picking bunch-type fruits of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the flexible mechanical arm of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 4 is a side view of the flexible mechanical arm of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the supporting skeleton structure of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the picking actuator of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the picking process of the flying robot of the present invention.

[0029] In the figure: rotating motor 1; flexible robotic arm 2; rope-driven motor 2-1; wire rope 2-2; supporting disc 2-3; reducer 2-4; supporting frame 2-5; binocular camera 3; picking actuator 4; blade 4-1; drone 5; balanced telescopic slide rail 6; fruit basket 7. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0031] like Figures 1 to 7 As shown, in order to achieve the technical effect of "picking bunch fruits in the high altitude and under the cover of branches, saving manual labor, high safety and high work efficiency, and realizing integrated picking", the structure and function of an aerial flying robot for integrated bunch fruit harvesting are described in detail below;

[0032] An aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting comprises a drone 5, a balanced telescopic slide rail 6 is arranged at the bottom of the drone 5, a rotary motor 1 is arranged at the telescopic end of one side of the balanced telescopic slide rail 6, a flexible mechanical arm 2 is connected to the output shaft of the rotary motor 1, a picking actuator 4 is arranged at the end of the flexible mechanical arm 2, a binocular camera 3 is arranged at the end of the flexible mechanical arm 2, and the binocular camera 3 is located on the side of the picking actuator 4, a fruit basket 7 is connected to the fixed end of the other side of the balanced telescopic slide rail 6, and the fruit basket 7 and the flexible mechanical arm 2 are respectively arranged on both sides of the drone 5;

[0033] The drone 1 of this embodiment is a four-rotor flying robot, which is used as a flying platform and is used to carry harvesting equipment to fly or hover in the air;

[0034] When using, Figure 1As shown, when the drone 5 is used for high-altitude picking, the drone 5 is equipped with a picking system to fly or hover at high altitude or in a complex environment. The drone 5, the control system of the drone 5 and the control system of the flexible mechanical arm 2 of the present invention are all prior arts. The drone 5 is controlled to keep the bunch of fruits within the picking range of the flexible mechanical arm 2, and the flexible mechanical arm 2 is controlled to produce a certain bending deformation to realize the picking actuator 4 with a binocular camera 3 into the branches and leaves. After the binocular camera 3 identifies the fruit and the fruit stalk, the data is transmitted to the background system to obtain the coordinates of the fruit stalk, and the distance between the flexible mechanical arm 2 and the fruit is adjusted to make the picking actuator 4 reach the best picking position. The picking actuator 4 picks the bunch of fruits by clamping and shearing the fruit stalk. When the rotary motor 1 is started, the output shaft of the rotary motor 1 can drive the flexible mechanical arm 2 to rotate, so that the flexible mechanical arm 2 rotates to a specified angle, and the bunch of fruits on the picking actuator 4 are placed in the fruit basket 7 by rotating the rotary motor 1 and the flexible mechanical arm 2.

[0035] The structure and function of the flexible mechanical arm 2 are described in detail below to explain how it bends and deforms;

[0036] The flexible robotic arm 2 comprises a plurality of support discs 2-3 arranged side by side, and the plurality of support discs 2-3 are connected by a support skeleton 2-5, one end of the support skeleton 2-5 is fixedly connected to the support disc 2-3 at the capital, and the other end of the support skeleton 2-5 is fixedly connected to the support disc 2-3 at the tail end, and the support disc 2-3 at the head end is fixedly connected to the output shaft of the rotary motor 1; a plurality of rope-driven motors 2-1 are fixedly connected to the support disc 2-3 at the head end, each rope-driven motor 2-1 is installed with a reducer 2-4, each reducer 2-4 is connected with a wire rope 2-2, and each support disc 2-3 is provided with a plurality of wire openings, and the wire rope 2-2 passes through the plurality of support discs 2-3 through the wire openings and is fixedly connected to the support disc 2-3 at the tail end;

[0037] The rope-driven motors 2-1 are provided with four, and the four rope-driven motors 2-1 are arranged in a circular array on the supporting disc 2-3; the rope-driven motors 2-1 and the reducer 2-4 constitute a driving device that pulls the steel wire rope 2-2 to realize the movement of the entire flexible robotic arm 2, so that the flexible robotic arm 2 presents a "snake-shaped" or "elephant trunk-shaped" shape;

[0038] The support frame 2-5 is made of flexible material, the support frame 2-5 is a through structure, the support disc 2-3 and the support frame 2-5 are low wind resistance geometric shapes, and the preferred support frame 2-5 is an airfoil-shaped through structure;

[0039] like Figures 3 to 5As shown, by starting the rope drive motor 2-1 to drive the steel wire rope 2-2 to move, the steel wire rope 2-2 is extended or shortened, and then the multiple support discs 2-3 are deformed to a certain extent through the change of the length of multiple steel wire ropes 2-2. Under the support of the support skeleton 2-5, the flexible mechanical arm 2 is deformed as a whole, so that the flexible mechanical arm 2 presents different shapes to meet different movement requirements;

[0040] The binocular camera 3 is fixed directly above the picking actuator 4 and moves with the picking actuator 4 to detect and identify the images of the fruit bunches and the fruit stalks, and locate the images of the fruit bunches and the fruit stalks in three-dimensional space, so that the picking flying robot can more accurately control the movement of the flexible mechanical arm 2, and provide the picking actuator 4 with the best picking position. The accurate positioning and high recognition rate significantly improve the success rate and efficiency of picking.

[0041] like Figure 6 As shown, the picking actuator 4 is connected to the supporting disc 2-3 at the tail end through a rotating mechanism, and there is a clamp on each of the left and right sides of the picking actuator 4, and a cutting blade 4-1 is provided in each of the two clamps;

[0042] The picking actuator 4 is a clamp-shear integrated picking end actuator, which combines clamping and cutting of fruit stems into one. The separation of fruit and fruit stems is achieved by opening and closing the built-in blade 4-1 of the clamp, and finally the separated fruit stems with fruit are clamped. It has the ability to complete the clamping and cutting of fruit stems at the same time. This design reduces the operation steps in the picking process, so that the picking flying robot can complete the picking task faster and shorten the picking time of each bunch of fruit.

[0043] The cross section of the middle part of the balanced telescopic slide rail 6 is a trapezoidal surface, and the cross sections of the left and right ends of the balanced telescopic slide rail 6 are rectangular surfaces. A notch is provided at the bottom of the drone 5, and the length of the trapezoidal cross section of the balanced telescopic slide rail 6 cooperates with the notch of the drone 5. The balanced telescopic slide rail 6 is used to adjust the weight of the fruit basket 7 and the flexible mechanical arm 2 on both sides of the drone 5, so that the drone 5 remains balanced;

[0044] The balanced telescopic slide rail 6 can drive the flexible mechanical arm 2 to move forward and backward, realizing the adjustment of the front and rear weights of the drone 5, making the front and rear weight ratio close to 1:1, and improving the stability of the drone 5 during flight and picking;

[0045] The rotary motor 1 and the rope-driven motor 2-1 of the present invention can be a brushless motor and a lightweight stepper motor respectively; the wire rope 2-2 is made of 2mm stainless steel wire rope; the fixed rope disc 2-3 is made of lightweight material (ABS) 3D printed; the reducer 2-4 can be a 10:1 planetary gear reducer; the support frame 2-5 is molded by a flexible material mold, and the flexible material can be polycarbonate (PC), which can be bent and shaped, has high hardness and a certain load-bearing capacity; the frame of the drone 5 is made of carbon fiber material; the balanced telescopic slide rail 6 is made of alloy steel material; the fruit basket 7 is made of bamboo; the picking end effector 4 and the binocular camera 3 of the present invention are prior art.

[0046] Furthermore, the geometric shape and structural dimensions of the fruit basket 7 can be selected to have appropriate specification parameters according to the working conditions of the fruit trees and drones;

[0047] The principles and implementation methods of the present invention are described in this article using specific examples. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method and core idea of ​​the present invention. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, according to the idea of ​​the present invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

Claims

1. An aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting, comprising a drone (5), characterized in that: The bottom of the drone (5) is provided with a balanced telescopic slide rail (6), a rotary motor (1) is provided on the telescopic end of one side of the balanced telescopic slide rail (6), a flexible mechanical arm (2) is connected to the output shaft of the rotary motor (1), a picking actuator (4) is provided at the end of the flexible mechanical arm (2), a binocular camera (3) is provided at the end of the flexible mechanical arm (2), and the binocular camera (3) is located on the side of the picking actuator (4), a fruit basket (7) is connected to the fixed end of the other side of the balanced telescopic slide rail (6), and the fruit basket (7) and the flexible mechanical arm (2) are respectively provided on both sides of the drone (5).

2. The aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting according to claim 1, characterized in that: The flexible mechanical arm (2) comprises a plurality of support discs (2-3) arranged side by side, wherein the plurality of support discs (2-3) are connected via a support frame (2-5), one end of the support frame (2-5) is fixedly connected to the support disc (2-3) at the capital end, the other end of the support frame (2-5) is fixedly connected to the support disc (2-3) at the tail end, and the support disc (2-3) at the head end is fixedly connected to the output shaft of the rotary motor (1).

3. The aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting according to claim 2, characterized in that: A plurality of rope-driven motors (2-1) are fixedly connected to the support disc (2-3) at the head end, a reducer (2-4) is installed on each rope-driven motor (2-1), each reducer (2-4) is connected to a steel wire rope (2-2), and a plurality of wire-through openings are provided on each support disc (2-3), and the steel wire rope (2-2) passes through the plurality of support discs (2-3) through the wire-through openings and is fixedly connected to the support disc (2-3) at the tail end.

4. The aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting according to claim 3, characterized in that: Four rope-driven motors (2-1) are provided, and the four rope-driven motors (2-1) are arranged in a circular array on the supporting disc (2-3).

5. The aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting according to claim 3, characterized in that: The rope-driven motor (2-1) and the reducer (2-4) constitute a driving device that pulls the steel wire rope (2-2) to realize the movement of the entire flexible mechanical arm (2), so that the flexible mechanical arm (2) presents a "snake-like" or "elephant-trunk-like" shape.

6. The aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting according to claim 3, characterized in that: The supporting frame (2-5) is made of flexible material.

7. The aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting according to claim 3, characterized in that: The support frame (2-5) is a centrally-through structure, and the support disc (2-3) and the support frame (2-5) are geometric shapes with low wind resistance.

8. The aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting according to claim 3, characterized in that: The picking actuator (4) is connected to the supporting disc (2-3) at the tail end via a rotating mechanism.

9. The aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting according to claim 8, characterized in that: The picking actuator (4) has a clamp on each of its left and right sides, and both clamps are provided with cutting blades (4-1).

10. The aerial flying robot for integrated bunch-type fruit harvesting according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cross section of the middle part of the balanced telescopic slide rail (6) is a trapezoidal surface, and the cross sections of the left and right ends of the balanced telescopic slide rail (6) are rectangular surfaces. A notch is provided at the bottom of the drone (5). The length of the trapezoidal cross section of the balanced telescopic slide rail (6) is matched with the notch of the drone (5). The balanced telescopic slide rail (6) is used to adjust the weight of the fruit basket (7) and the flexible mechanical arm (2) on both sides of the drone (5), so that the drone (5) maintains balance.

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