A trellis arborvitae flowering period flower-thinning-pollination integrated robot and a working method thereof

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of arbor trellis kiwi flower period thinning-pollination integrated robot and its operation method, belong to intelligent agricultural equipment technical field.The robot includes mobile platform, thinning-pollination operation arm, visual perception system, control system and thinning-pollination integrated end effector;Thinning-pollination integrated end effector includes installation base, thinning module and pollination module, and thinning module is equipped with U-shaped mouth and two scissors arms;Control system determines the main flower to be reserved from multiple flower clusters of visual perception and generates the position before insertion and the position of insertion completion, controls thinning-pollination integrated end effector to insert the flower cluster to be operated along target feed direction, so that the center peduncle of main flower to be reserved enters U-shaped mouth and is limited protection, thinning module removes secondary flower, while pollination module completes directional pollination to main flower to be reserved.The application realizes the integrated operation of robot of two agricultural links of thinning and pollination, significantly reduces the labor input of agricultural operation, realizes the efficient energy-saving operation of robot.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of intelligent agricultural equipment, specifically to an integrated robot for thinning and pollinating flowers during the flowering period of kiwifruit and its operating method. In this invention, the integrated thinning and pollination refers to the continuous removal of secondary flowers and directional pollination of the main flower according to a preset time sequence, targeting flower clusters where the main flower to be retained has reached a pollination-ready open state and where secondary flowers still need to be thinned, under the same end effector, the same target feed posture, and the same main flower limiting reference. Background Technology

[0002] In kiwifruit trellis cultivation, the regulation of flowering clusters and pollination quality directly affect fruit set quality, fruit uniformity, and marketable fruit rate. Kiwifruit flower cluster management typically focuses on retaining the central main flower and removing lateral buds or secondary flowers as the main agronomical goal. Pollination operations need to be completed promptly after the main flower to be retained reaches a pollination-ready open state, with concentrated timing and a short window period.

[0003] In kiwifruit, the development of the central main flower and the lateral florets or buds within the same flower cluster typically differs, with the central main flower generally opening before the lateral florets. Therefore, during actual operations at the flowering stage, some flower clusters may have a main flower ready for pollination that is already open, while the same cluster may still contain lateral buds, half-open lateral flowers, or fully open lateral flowers that need to be removed. For such flower clusters, there is a simultaneous need to remove florets and pollinate the main flower to be retained during the flowering period, resulting in overlapping thinning and pollination operations within the same flower cluster and the same operational window.

[0004] In current kiwifruit flowering management, the removal of lateral buds or secondary flowers and the pollination of the main flower are usually done manually. This manual method requires multiple visits to the orchard to perform tasks such as flower cluster identification, main flower selection, removal of lateral buds or secondary flowers, and main flower pollination. This concentrated work area is labor-intensive, and it is difficult to ensure consistency in target judgment and operation between different stages. Especially under large-scale trellis cultivation conditions, if thinning and pollination are organized and implemented separately, it will increase the number of flowering management operations and labor input.

[0005] In robotic flowering operations, if the removal of lateral buds or secondary flowers and the pollination of the main flower are completed by different devices, different end effectors, or different workflows, separate processes for target recognition, end effector localization, feed avoidance, and pollination alignment must be established. This results in a complex system structure, lengthy workflows, and increased time consumption due to repeated sensing, localization, and feeding. For flower clusters where the main flower to be retained has reached a pollination-ready open state, and there are still lateral buds or secondary flowers to be removed within the same cluster, if the removal of lateral buds or secondary flowers and the pollination of the main flower to be retained can be completed in the same end effector entry process, repetitive operations can be reduced, and the efficiency of flowering operations can be improved.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need for an integrated robot for thinning and pollination of kiwifruit during the flowering period. This robot would be able to complete the thinning and directional pollination of the main flowers in a single terminal entry process, targeting flower clusters where the main flowers are open and ready for pollination, and where there are still lateral buds or secondary flowers to be thinned. This would reduce the need for repeated identification, positioning, and feeding processes, thereby improving the efficiency of flowering operations and reducing operating costs. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The purpose of this invention is to provide an integrated robot for thinning and pollinating kiwifruit during the flowering period, and its operating method, to solve the problems of high manual labor input, repetitive work processes, inconsistent robot positioning references, easy damage to main flowers, and insufficient pollination alignment consistency when thinning and pollination are organized separately in existing methods. This invention targets flower clusters where the main flowers to be retained have reached a pollination-ready open state and where there are secondary flowers to be thinned within the same flower cluster. It establishes an integrated thinning and pollination operation chain of "main flower identification - central pedicel limiting - secondary flower clamping - airflow pollination - exiting with the same target feeding posture," enabling the removal of secondary flowers and pollination of main flowers to be completed collaboratively according to a preset sequence under the same end entry and the same main flower limiting reference.

[0008] The present invention achieves the above-mentioned technical objectives through the following technical means.

[0009] A kiwifruit flowering period thinning and pollination integrated robot includes a mobile platform, a thinning and pollination working arm, a vision perception system, a control system, and a thinning and pollination integrated end effector.

[0010] The dredging and feeding arm, the vision perception system, and the control system are all installed on the mobile platform, and the integrated dredging and feeding end effector is installed at the end of the dredging and feeding arm; the control system is communicatively connected to the dredging and feeding arm, the vision perception system, and the integrated dredging and feeding end effector.

[0011] The visual perception system is used to acquire images and depth information of kiwifruit flower clusters on the trellis from bottom to top.

[0012] The integrated pollination and thinning end effector includes a mounting base, a thinning module, and a pollination module. The mounting base is connected to the end of the pollination and thinning arm. Both the thinning module and the pollination module are mounted on the mounting base, with the pollination module located below the thinning module.

[0013] The control system determines the main flower to be retained based on the visual perception results, and controls the thinning and pollination arm to drive the thinning and pollination integrated end effector into the flower cluster along the target feed direction, so that the central flower stalk of the main flower to be retained is limited and protected. Under the same insertion posture, the thinning module clamps and cuts the secondary flowers to be thinned, and the pollination module performs directional pollination on the main flower to be retained.

[0014] In the above technical solution, the flower thinning module includes a U-shaped opening, a left scissor arm, a right scissor arm, a rotary cam, a cam motor, opening springs, driven columns, and a rotating shaft. The U-shaped opening is located at the front end of the mounting base. Vertically, the left scissor arm, the U-shaped opening, and the right scissor arm are arranged sequentially from top to bottom, and all three are mounted on the mounting base using through screws. The front end of the scissor arm is a shearing section, and the rear end is equipped with a driven column. The rotary cam is located between the two driven columns and maintains contact with them. The bottom of the rotary cam is fixed to the top of the rotating shaft, and the bottom end of the rotating shaft is connected to the output shaft of the cam motor. One end of each of the two opening springs is hung on the left and right scissor arms, respectively, and the other end is hung on the small columns of the mounting base.

[0015] In the above technical solution, the U-shaped opening is an integral structure, including an inlet, a bottom limiting section, and two guide sides;

[0016] Let the width of the inlet be... The maximum diameter of the central flower stalk is The design measurement position is a predetermined distance taken from the base of the main flower to be retained along the direction of the central peduncle. At this design measurement position, the minimum net distance between the central peduncle and the adjacent peduncle of the secondary flower to be thinned is [value missing]. ,but .

[0017] In the above technical solution, the rotary cam is a symmetrical double-sided pushing cam, whose continuous outer circumferential contour includes a small radius section, a lift section, a maximum radial pushing part, and a return section; when the rotary cam rotates to the position corresponding to the left and right driven small columns on both sides of the maximum radial pushing part, the front ends of the left and right scissor arms form a closed shearing opening; when the rotary cam rotates away from the position corresponding to the maximum radial pushing part, the left and right scissor arms form an open shearing opening under the action of the opening spring; let the opening size of the open shearing opening be... The maximum diameter of the pedicel of the secondary flowers to be thinned is ,but .

[0018] In the above technical solution, the pollination module includes an air pump, an airflow channel, and a pollination outlet. The pollination outlet is connected to the air pump through the airflow channel. The pollination outlet is installed on the mounting base and has a fixed spatial position relationship with the U-shaped opening. ,in, The bottom of the U-shaped opening is a limiting point. As the pollination export center point, The unit vector in the depth direction of the U-shaped opening. The vertical unit vector for the U-shaped opening. , For the pollination outlet relative to the bottom limit point of the U-shaped inlet along and The structural offset in the direction; the alignment relationship between the pollination outlet and the pollination target area is: ,in, The unit vector representing the direction of pollination exit. Allowable deviation for pollination.

[0019] In the above technical solution, the control system controls the operation of the thinning module and the pollination module according to the thinning-pollination coordination timing. The thinning-pollination coordination timing means that the time when the pollen-containing airflow reaches the pollination target area is the same as the time when the secondary flowers to be thinned are completely cut off.

[0020] Let the moment when the secondary flowers to be thinned are completely cut be... The air pump starts at The time when pollen-laden airflow reaches the target pollination area is ,but ,in, This includes the time it takes for the air pump to establish the airflow, the time it takes for the pollen-containing airflow to travel within the airflow channel, and the time it takes for the pollen-containing airflow to reach the pollination target area from the pollination outlet.

[0021] In the above technical solution, the control system determines the main flower to be retained based on the visual perception result, specifically as follows:

[0022] The visual perception system outputs the target center coordinates, category feature values, and actual corolla area of ​​each flower target within the same working field of view;

[0023] The control system divides flower cluster targets into sets based on the target center coordinates of each flower target within the same working field of view. Flower targets within the same flower cluster that meet the open flower matching condition are designated as candidate main flowers to be retained. The open flower matching condition is that the category feature value of the flower target is not less than a preset open flower matching threshold. When only one flower target within the same flower cluster meets the open flower matching condition, the control system directly identifies that candidate target as the main flower to be retained. When no candidate main flower within the same flower cluster meets the open flower matching condition, the control system does not output the main flower to be retained for that flower cluster. When two or more candidate main flowers within the same flower cluster meet the open flower matching condition, the control system determines the openness index and drooping position index of each candidate target. Let the first... The openness index of each candidate objective is The drooping position index is The overall evaluation value of the main flower is ,but Where α is the weight of the openness index and β is the weight of the drooping position index, The most likely candidate is to retain the main flower.

[0024] In the above technical solution, after determining the main flower to be retained, the control system identifies flowers in the same flower cluster that, excluding the main flower to be retained, have a distance between their target center point and the target center point of the main flower to be retained that is less than a preset secondary flower distance threshold as secondary flower targets to be thinned. The secondary flower targets to be thinned are unopened lateral buds, half-open secondary flowers, or open secondary flowers. For flower clusters where the main flower to be retained has not reached the pollination-ready open state, the control system does not generate a thinning and pollination integrated operation task. For flower clusters where the main flower to be retained has reached the pollination-ready open state and there are secondary flower targets to be thinned, the control system generates a pre-insertion waiting position and an insertion completion position, determines the target feed direction, and controls the thinning and pollination integrated end effector to perform secondary flower thinning and directional pollination of the main flower.

[0025] In the above technical solution, the control system generates the three-dimensional center point of the main flower to be retained based on the determined center coordinates and depth value of the main flower to be retained, performs height compensation in the vertical upward direction to generate the insertion completion position, and then retreats a preset insertion distance in the opposite direction of the target feed direction from the insertion completion position to generate the waiting position before insertion.

[0026] Let the three-dimensional center point of the main flower to be retained be... The vertical upward unit vector is The height compensation amount is Then the insertion is complete at the position. ;

[0027] Let the target feed direction unit vector be... The preset insertion distance is Then wait for the position before insertion. ;

[0028] The target feed direction is based on the horizontal lateral direction, which is parallel to the trellis cultivation plane and perpendicular to the cultivation row direction; the control system controls the thinning and feeding arm to drive the thinning and feeding integrated end effector to move to the pre-insertion waiting position. Then move linearly along the target feed direction to the insertion completion position. This allows the central flower stalk of the main flower to be retained to enter the U-shaped opening and be confined.

[0029] A method for operating a robot integrating flower thinning and pollination during the flowering period of kiwifruit on a trellis includes:

[0030] The mobile platform enters the kiwifruit flowering period operation area on the trellis and stops at a fixed point. The visual perception system acquires the flower cluster images and depth information of the flower clusters within the reachable operation area of ​​the thinning operation arm. The control system identifies the flower targets based on the flower cluster images and depth information and generates the corresponding spatial coordinates, thereby forming a set of flower cluster targets to be operated.

[0031] The control system determines the main flowers to be retained in the target set of each flower cluster to be operated. When the main flowers to be retained reach the pollination and open state, and there are secondary flowers to be thinned in the same target set of flower clusters, the control system determines the target set of flower clusters as the flower clusters to be operated. The control system generates the corresponding insertion completion position, pre-insertion waiting position and target feed direction for the flower clusters to be operated.

[0032] When only one thinning and feeding arm is set up, the control system controls the thinning and feeding arm to complete the thinning and feeding of each flower cluster in sequence according to the operation sequence; when multiple thinning and feeding arms are set up, the control system assigns the flower clusters to be processed to the corresponding thinning and feeding arms according to the spatial position of each flower cluster and the reach of each thinning and feeding arm.

[0033] The control system controls the thinning and feeding arm to drive the thinning and feeding integrated end effector to first move to the pre-insertion waiting position corresponding to the current working flower cluster, and then move linearly along the target feed direction to the corresponding insertion completion position, so that the central flower stem of the main flower to be retained in the current working flower cluster enters the U-shaped opening and is limited;

[0034] The integrated thinning and pollination end effector maintains its posture at the insertion completion position, the control system controls the thinning module to clamp and cut the secondary flowers to be thinned in the current flower cluster, and controls the pollination module to perform directional pollination on the main flowers to be retained after being limited by the U-shaped opening;

[0035] After the current working flower cluster completes the sparse and feed integrated operation, the control system controls the sparse and feed working arm to drive the sparse and feed integrated end effector to exit the preset exit distance in the opposite direction of the target feed direction, so that the sparse and feed integrated end effector leaves the current working flower cluster and marks the current working flower cluster as completed;

[0036] The control system determines whether there are still unfinished flower clusters within the currently accessible area; if so, it identifies the next flower cluster to be processed from the remaining flower cluster targets and repeats the identification, insertion, clipping, pollination, and exit steps; if not, it determines that all flower cluster targets within the currently accessible work area have completed the thinning and pollination integrated operation.

[0037] Once the mobile platform has completed its work in the currently accessible area corresponding to its current fixed stopping position, the control system controls the mobile platform to move along the predetermined direction of travel to the next work position and stop again. This process is repeated until the thinning and transplanting operations within the kiwifruit flowering period work area are completed.

[0038] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows:

[0039] (1) The present invention integrates the U-shaped opening, the flower thinning module and the pollination module on the same mounting base. The U-shaped opening physically limits and isolates the main flower stem, which can prevent the cutting mechanism from accidentally damaging the main flower to be retained when cutting the secondary flowers, thus ensuring the reliability of the operation and the integrity of the main flower.

[0040] (2) This invention targets flower clusters where the main flower to be retained has reached the pollination-ready open state during the flowering period and there are still secondary flowers to be thinned. It completes the thinning of secondary flowers and pollination of main flowers under the same end entry, the same target feeding posture and the same main flower limit reference, reducing the repetitive sensing, repetitive positioning and repetitive feeding process caused by separate flower thinning and pollination operations.

[0041] (3) The present invention adopts a double-sided flower thinning mechanism with cam closing and spring opening. It has a compact structure and continuous operation, and is suitable for the clipping and thinning of the left and right secondary flowers or side flower buds in the flower cluster.

[0042] (4) The present invention determines the start time of the air pump based on the completion time of the clamping and the delay time of the pollination airflow reaching the target main flower, so as to realize the synchronization of the thinning and pollination actions, ensure the consistency of the pollination timing and the thinning operation, and improve the thinning and pollination efficiency.

[0043] (5) The present invention constrains the entry position and insertion depth of the pollination-feeding integrated end effector by the pre-insertion waiting position and the insertion completion position, and forms a fixed spatial correspondence between the U-shaped opening, the pollination outlet and the end feed direction; after the central flower stalk of the main flower to be retained enters the U-shaped opening, the pollination outlet can be aligned with the pollination target area without secondary positioning and attitude adjustment, thereby improving the consistency of main flower limit protection, insertion positioning and pollination alignment. Attached Figure Description

[0044] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the integrated robot for thinning and pollinating kiwifruit during the flowering period of the present invention.

[0045] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the measurement of the net distance between the central flower stalk of the main flower to be retained and the flower stalk of the adjacent secondary flower to be thinned in this invention;

[0046] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the integrated end effector structure of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the U-shaped opening for introducing and limiting the main flower to be retained according to the present invention;

[0048] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the open state of the flower-reducing module of the present invention;

[0049] Figure 6(a) is a schematic diagram of the segmented outer periphery of the rotary cam of the present invention;

[0050] Figure 6(b) is a schematic diagram of the closed clamping and shearing state of the openwork module of the present invention;

[0051] Figure 7(a) is a lateral schematic diagram of the spatial offset relationship between the pollination outlet and the U-shaped inlet of the present invention;

[0052] Figure 7(b) is a top view schematic diagram of the spatial offset relationship between the pollination outlet and the U-shaped inlet of the present invention;

[0053] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the integrated end effector of the present invention entering the flower cluster along the target feed direction;

[0054] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the integrated end effector of the present invention retracting from the flower cluster in the reverse direction along the target feed direction;

[0055] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the pre-insertion waiting position and the insertion completion position generated according to the present invention;

[0056] Figure 11 This is a flowchart illustrating the logic of the present invention for determining the main flower to be retained based on the openness-drooping position fusion index.

[0057] Figure 12 This is a flowchart illustrating the integrated flower thinning and pollination process of the present invention.

[0058] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of the U-shaped opening structure of the present invention.

[0059] In the diagram, 1-Mobile platform, 2-Flower thinning arm, 3-Vision perception system, 4-Control system, 5-Integrated thinning and pollination end effector, 51-Mounting base, 52-Flower thinning module, 521-U-shaped opening, 522-Left scissor arm, 523-Right scissor arm, 524-Rotating cam, 525-Opening spring, 526-Driven column, 527-Rotating shaft, 53-Pollination module, 531-Airflow channel, 532-Pollination outlet, 6-Main flower to be retained, 61-Central flower stalk, 7-Secondary flowers to be thinned. Detailed Implementation

[0060] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following content is used to further illustrate the present invention, but is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Equivalent substitutions or modifications that can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the concept of the present invention are all within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0061] like Figure 1 As shown, this invention provides an integrated robot for thinning and pollinating flowers during the flowering period of kiwifruit on a trellis, comprising a mobile platform 1, a thinning and pollinating arm 2, a vision perception system 3, a control system 4, and an integrated thinning and pollinating end effector 5. The mobile platform 1 is used to move along the rows of kiwifruit on the trellis and stop at fixed points in the flowering operation area. The thinning and pollinating arm 2 is mounted on the mobile platform 1, and the integrated thinning and pollinating end effector 5 is mounted at the end of the thinning and pollinating arm 2.

[0062] In this invention, the thinning arm 2 is used to drive the integrated thinning end effector 5 into or out of the flower cluster along the target feed direction. The target feed direction can be determined based on the spatial posture of the flower cluster on the trellis, the reachable range of the thinning arm 2, and the avoidance relationship between the end effector and the branches and leaves. For ease of explanation, this embodiment describes a lateral straight-line entry method with a horizontal target feed direction, but this implementation does not constitute a limitation on the entry direction of the integrated thinning end effector 5. The above-described horizontal entry method is only used to illustrate the operation process of this embodiment and does not limit the integrated thinning end effector 5 to only enter the flower cluster in a horizontal direction.

[0063] The visual perception system 3 is installed on the mobile platform 1 and is used to acquire images and depth information of the kiwifruit flower clusters from bottom to top. The control system 4 is installed on the mobile platform 1 and is communicatively connected to the thinning arm 2, the visual perception system 3, and the thinning-integrated end effector 5. It is used to generate insertion trajectories based on the visual perception results and coordinate the removal of secondary flowers and airflow pollination actions.

[0064] In this embodiment, the integrated thinning and pollination operation does not mean that thinning and pollination must be completely synchronized in terms of production management dates. Rather, it means that the robot continuously completes the thinning of secondary flowers and pollination of main flowers under the same end effector entry and the same main flower limit reference for flower clusters where the main flowers to be retained have reached the pollination open state and there are still secondary flowers to be thinned in the same flower cluster.

[0065] like Figure 3 As shown, the integrated pollination and thinning end effector 5 includes a mounting base 51, a thinning module 52, and a pollination module 53. The mounting base 51 is connected to the end of the pollination and thinning arm 2. Both the thinning module 52 and the pollination module 53 are mounted on the mounting base 51, with the pollination module 53 located below the thinning module 52. Figure 5 As shown in Figure 6(b), the flower thinning module 52 includes a U-shaped opening 521, a left scissor arm 522, a right scissor arm 523, a rotary cam 524, a cam motor, a spreading spring 525, a driven column 526, and a rotating shaft 527. The U-shaped opening 521 is located at the front end of the mounting base 51.

[0066] like Figure 13 As shown, the U-shaped inlet 521 is an integral structure, including an inlet, a bottom limiting section, and two guide sides. The inlet is used to guide the central flower stalk 61 of the main flower to be retained into the U-shaped inlet 521 when the end effector enters the flower cluster along the target feed direction. Figure 4 The bottom limiting section is used to restrict the center flower stem 61 from moving forward, and the two side guide edges are used to constrain the lateral displacement of the center flower stem 61 during the entry process.

[0067] The dimensions of the U-shaped opening 521 are determined based on the net distance between the central flower stalk 61 and the adjacent flower stalks of the secondary flowers 7 to be thinned. Let the inner width of the U-shaped opening 521 be... The maximum diameter of the central pedicel 61 of the main flower to be retained is... Let a predetermined distance be taken from the base of the main flower 6 to be retained along the direction of the central pedicel 61. (like Figure 2 As shown, in this implementation The value range is 8-12cm) is the design measurement position. At the design measurement position, the minimum net distance between the central flower stalk 61 and the adjacent flower stalk of the secondary flower to be thinned 7 is [value missing]. Then the following conditions are met:

[0068] (1)

[0069] in, At the designed measurement location, the smaller net distance between the outer contour of the central pedicel 61 and the outer contour of the pedicel of any adjacent secondary flower to be thinned 7 ( Figure 2 ).

[0070] Formula (1) is used to ensure that the central flower stalk 61 can enter the U-shaped opening 521, while reducing the risk of the connecting part of the flower stalk of the adjacent secondary flower to be thinned 7 entering the U-shaped opening 521.

[0071] As shown in Figures 7(a) and 7(b), the pollination module 53 includes an air pump, an airflow channel 531, and a pollination outlet 532. The pollination outlet 532 is connected to the air pump through the airflow channel 531. The air pump is installed inside the mounting base 51. The pollination outlet 532 is installed on the mounting base 51 and has a fixed spatial positional relationship with the U-shaped opening 521. Let the bottom limiting point of the U-shaped opening 521 be... The pollination outlet center point is 532. The unit vector in the depth direction of the U-shaped opening is The vertical unit vector is The unit vector in the direction of pollination outlet 532 is Pollination outlet 532 relative to the bottom limiting site along and The structural offsets in the directions are respectively , Then the following conditions are met:

[0072] (2)

[0073] in, The value range is 0mm to 40mm. The value range is 40mm to 120mm.

[0074] Let the target pollination point for the main flower 6 to be retained be... The unit vector in the direction of pollination outlet 532 is The allowable deviation for pollination is Then the alignment relationship between pollination outlet 532 and the pollination target area satisfies:

[0075] (3)

[0076] in, The value range is 5 mm to 15 mm, preferably 8 to 12 cm.

[0077] Therefore, after the main flower 6 to be retained is limited and protected by the U-shaped opening 521, the pollination module 53 can perform directional pollination of the main flower 6 to be retained through the pollination outlet 532 without readjusting the attitude of the end effector.

[0078] like Figure 5 As shown in Figure 6(b), the left scissor arm 522, the U-shaped opening 521, and the right scissor arm 523 are arranged vertically from top to bottom. The three are installed on the mounting base 51 by through screws. The front end of each scissor arm is the shearing part, and the rear end is provided with a driven column 526. The rotating cam 524 is located between the driven columns 526 on both sides and maintains contact with the driven columns 526 on both sides. The bottom of the rotating cam 524 is fixed to the top of the rotating shaft 527. The bottom end of the rotating shaft 527 is connected to the output shaft of the cam motor (located inside the mounting base 51), so that the cam motor can drive the rotating cam 524 to rotate, thereby driving the left scissor arm 522 and the right scissor arm 523 to move. One end of the two opening springs 525 is hung on the left scissor arm 522 and the right scissor arm 523 respectively, and the other end is hung on the small column of the mounting base 51 respectively.

[0079] When the rotary cam 524 rotates to the closed angle interval, its outer contour surface pushes against the driven small posts 526 on both sides, causing the front ends of the left scissor arm 522 and the right scissor arm 523 to form a closed clamping and shearing state, clamping and shearing the secondary flower 7 to be thinned; when the rotary cam 524 rotates away from the closed angle interval, the opening spring 525 drives the left scissor arm 522 and the right scissor arm 523 to open and return to their original positions. The closed angle interval... The continuous angular range within the outer periphery of the rotary cam 524 that keeps the left scissor arm 522 and the right scissor arm 523 in a closed clamping state, which is also the angular range within which the maximum radial push part pushes against the driven small columns 526 on both sides; closed angular range The angle range is 10° to 40°.

[0080] In one embodiment, the rotary cam 524 is a symmetrical double-sided pushing cam, and its continuous outer periphery includes a small radius section, a lift section, a maximum radial pushing section, and a return section, as shown in Figure 6(a). When the rotary cam 524 rotates to the position corresponding to the left and right driven pins 526 on both sides of the maximum radial pushing section, the front ends of the left scissor arm 522 and the right scissor arm 523 form a closed shearing opening; when the rotary cam 524 rotates away from the position corresponding to the maximum radial pushing section, the left scissor arm 522 and the right scissor arm 523 form an open shearing opening under the action of the opening spring 525. Let the opening size of the open shearing opening be... The maximum diameter of the pedicel of the secondary flower 7 to be thinned is Then the following conditions are met:

[0081] (4)

[0082] This allows the open shearing opening to accommodate the flower stalk connection of the secondary flower 7 to be thinned into the clamping shearing range, and the closed shearing opening to perform clamping and thinning of the secondary flower 7.

[0083] The visual perception system 3 includes an image acquisition unit and a flower detection model. The image acquisition unit can use an RGB-D camera, a binocular camera, or other image acquisition devices with depth acquisition capabilities, and is configured to acquire images and depth information of the kiwifruit flower clusters on the trellis from bottom to top. For example... Figure 11 As shown, the flower detection model outputs the target center coordinates, category feature values, and actual corolla area of ​​each flower target within the same field of view. The category feature value is used to represent the degree of matching between the flower target and the open flower feature. The higher the category feature value, the more the flower target matches the open flower state. The actual corolla area is used to represent the open scale of the flower target. The larger the actual corolla area, the higher the degree of openness of the flower target.

[0084] Control system 4 divides the flower cluster target set according to the target center coordinates of each flower target within the same working field of view. Let the preset flower cluster distance threshold be... When the first The target center coordinates of each flower target ( , ) and the The target center coordinates of each flower target ( , When the following equation is satisfied:

[0085] (5)

[0086] Then the first The flower target and the first Each flower target is divided into the same flower cluster target set, and the preset flower cluster distance threshold is... The distance between the target centers of adjacent flowers within a kiwifruit flower cluster is determined based on the statistical range.

[0087] The control system 4 selects flower targets within the same flower cluster target set that meet the open flower matching condition as candidate main flowers to be retained; the open flower matching condition is: the category feature value of the flower target is not less than a preset open flower matching threshold. , The values ​​are determined based on the accuracy of the flower detection model in identifying open flowers, the false positive rate of half-open flowers, and the false negative rate of open main flowers in field images, with a range of 0.50 to 0.80. When there is only one flower target in the same flower cluster target set that meets the matching condition for open flowers, the control system 4 directly identifies this candidate target as the main flower to be retained.

[0088] After determining the main flower to be retained, the control system 4 identifies flowers within the same flower cluster that, excluding the main flower, have a distance between their target center point and the target center point of the main flower to be retained that is less than a preset secondary flower distance threshold. The preset secondary flower distance threshold ranges from 40mm to 100mm. The secondary flowers to be thinned can be unopened lateral buds, half-open secondary flowers, or open secondary flowers. For flower clusters where the main flower to be retained has not reached a pollination-ready open state, the control system 4 does not generate a thinning-pollination integrated operation task. For flower clusters where the main flower to be retained has reached a pollination-ready open state and there are secondary flowers to be thinned, the control system 4 generates a pre-insertion waiting position and an insertion completion position, determines the target feed direction, and controls the thinning-pollination integrated end effector 5 to perform secondary flower thinning and directional pollination of the main flower.

[0089] When there are no candidate main flowers that meet the open flower matching conditions in the same flower cluster target set, the control system 4 does not output the main flowers to be retained for that flower cluster, and marks the flower cluster as a flower cluster that is not to be operated or a skipped flower cluster.

[0090] When there are two or more candidate main flowers that meet the open flower matching condition within the same flower cluster target set, the control system 4 determines the openness index and drooping position index of each candidate flower. The openness index is determined by the category feature value and actual area of ​​the corolla of the candidate flower. Let the category feature value of the i-th candidate flower be... The normalized value of the actual area of ​​the corolla Openness index is Then the following conditions are met:

[0091] (6)

[0092] In the formula, , These are the weights of the category feature values ​​and the actual area of ​​the corolla, respectively. >0, >0, Preferably, The value range is 0.6 to 0.8. The value ranges from 0.2 to 0.4; the higher the category characteristic value and the larger the actual area of ​​the corolla, the greater the openness index.

[0093] The drooping position index is determined by the spatial height value of candidate targets within the same flower cluster target set. Let the maximum spatial height value of all candidate targets within the same flower cluster target set be [value missing]. The minimum space height is The spatial height value of the i-th candidate target is The drooping position index is ,when When, then the following condition is met:

[0094] (7)

[0095] when At that time, the drooping position index of each candidate target Take the same value;

[0096] The smaller the spatial height value, the more the candidate target droops relative to other candidate targets in the same flower cluster, and the larger the drooping position index.

[0097] Let the first The openness index of each candidate objective is The drooping position index is The overall evaluation value of the main flower is Then the following conditions are met:

[0098] (8)

[0099] Where α is the weight of the openness index and β is the weight of the drooping position index, and α > 0, β > 0, and the value range of α is 0.5 to 0.7, and the value range of β is 0.3 to 0.5; the control system 4 is based on the comprehensive evaluation value of the main flower. Compare and The most likely candidate target is to retain the main flower 6.

[0100] The control system 4 generates a three-dimensional center point of the main flower 6 to be retained based on the determined center coordinates and depth value. This three-dimensional center point is the three-dimensional center point of the corolla identified and output by the visual perception system 3. Let the three-dimensional center point of the main flower 6 to be retained be... The vertical upward unit vector is The target point of the central flower stalk, obtained by height compensation from the three-dimensional center point of the main flower to be retained (6), is... ( Figure 10 Then it is full:

[0101] (9)

[0102] in, The vertical upward compensation distance is from the three-dimensional center point of the corolla to the target limiting segment of the central pedicel (6 points). The value range is 20mm to 60mm; This indicates the target alignment position of the bottom limiting segment of the U-shaped opening 521 upon completion of insertion. Let the completed insertion position be... Then the insertion is complete at the position. The center position of the bottom limiting section of the corresponding U-shaped opening 521 and the target point of the center flower stem correspond.

[0103] Let the target feed direction unit vector be... The preset insertion distance is ( The value range is 60mm to 150mm), and the waiting position before insertion is... Then the following conditions are met:

[0104] (10)

[0105] The target feed direction is based on the horizontal lateral direction, which is parallel to the trellis cultivation plane and perpendicular to the cultivation row direction; the control system 4 controls the thinning and feeding arm 2 to drive the thinning and feeding integrated end effector 5 to move to the insertion waiting position first. Then move linearly along the target feed direction to the insertion completion position. This allows the central flower stalk 61 of the main flower 6 to be retained to enter the U-shaped opening 521 and be restricted.

[0106] After the central flower stem 61 of the main flower 6 is retained and enters the U-shaped opening 521 and is limited, the control system 4 controls the cam motor to drive the rotating cam 524 to rotate to the maximum radial pushing part, so that the flower thinning module 52 performs a clamping and shearing action; after the rotating cam 524 rotates away from the maximum radial pushing part, the left scissor arm 522 and the right scissor arm 523 open and reset under the action of the opening spring 525.

[0107] The control system 4 controls the thinning module 52 and the pollination module 53 to operate according to the coordinated timing of thinning and pollination. The coordinated timing of thinning and pollination refers to the timing when the integrated thinning and pollination end effector 5 is in the insertion completed position. After the central pedicel 61 of the main flower 6 is limited by the U-shaped opening 521, the pollination module 53 is started in advance, taking the moment when the secondary flowers 7 to be thinned are cut as the synchronization reference, so that the time when the pollen-containing airflow reaches the pollination target area is the same as the time when the secondary flowers 7 to be thinned are completely cut. Specifically, the control system 4 starts the air pump in advance according to the airflow arrival time required for the pollen-containing airflow to reach the pollination target area from the start of the air pump, so that the time when the pollen-containing airflow reaches the pollination target area is the same as the time when the secondary flowers 7 to be thinned are cut.

[0108] Let the moment when the 7th secondary flower to be thinned is completely cut off be... The air pump starts at The time when pollen-laden airflow reaches the target pollination area is Then the following conditions are met:

[0109] (11)

[0110] in, This includes the time it takes for the air pump to establish the airflow, the time it takes for the pollen-containing airflow to travel within the airflow channel 531, and the time it takes for the pollen-containing airflow to reach the pollination target area from the pollination outlet 532.

[0111] This ensures that when the secondary flowers 7 to be thinned are completely cut off, the pollen-laden airflow simultaneously reaches the pollination target area of ​​the main flowers 6 to be retained.

[0112] like Figure 12 As shown, during operation, the mobile platform 1 enters the kiwifruit flowering period operation area on the trellis and stops at a fixed point. The visual perception system 3 acquires the flower cluster images and depth information within the reachable operation area of ​​the thinning operation arm 2. The control system 4 identifies the flower targets based on the flower cluster images and depth information and generates the corresponding spatial coordinates, thereby forming a set of flower cluster targets to be operated.

[0113] When only one thinning and distribution arm is set up, the control system 4 controls the thinning and distribution arm to complete the thinning and distribution of each flower cluster target in sequence according to the operation sequence; when multiple thinning and distribution arms are set up, the control system 4 assigns the flower cluster target to the corresponding thinning and distribution arm according to the spatial position of each flower cluster target and the reachability of each thinning and distribution arm.

[0114] The visual perception system 3 identifies the current flower cluster to be operated, and the control system 4 determines the three-dimensional center point of the main flower 6 to be retained in the current flower cluster. Based on the three-dimensional center point, the system performs height compensation in the vertical upward direction to generate the insertion completion position. Then, based on the insertion completion position, the system moves backward by a preset insertion distance in the opposite direction of the target feed direction to generate the waiting position before insertion and determines the target feed direction.

[0115] The control system 4 controls the thinning arm 2, which is assigned to the flower clusters currently awaiting work, to move the integrated thinning end effector 5 to the pre-insertion waiting position. Then move linearly along the target feed direction to the insertion completion position. This allows the central flower stalk 61 of the main flower 6 to be retained to enter the U-shaped opening 521 and be confined ( Figure 8 ).

[0116] The thinning and pollination integrated end effector 5 maintains the insertion posture at the insertion completion position. The control system 4 controls the thinning module 52 and the pollination module 53 to perform the thinning and pollination integrated operation, so that the thinning module 52 clamps and cuts the secondary flowers 7 to be thinned in the current flower cluster, and the pollination module 53 performs directional pollination on the main flowers 6 to be retained after being limited by the U-shaped opening 521.

[0117] After the current flower cluster to be worked on completes the thinning and feeding operation, the control system 4 controls the thinning and feeding arm 2 to drive the thinning and feeding end effector 5 to withdraw a preset withdrawal distance in the opposite direction of the target feed direction, so that the thinning and feeding end effector 5 leaves the current flower cluster to be worked on. Figure 9 As shown.

[0118] The control system 4 determines whether there are still flower clusters that have not completed the integrated pollination and pollination operation within the reachable working area of ​​the pollination and pollination arm 2 under the current fixed-point stop state; if there are, the next flower cluster to be operated is determined from the remaining flower clusters, and the identification, insertion, clamping, pollination and exit steps are repeated; if there are no, it is determined that all flower clusters in the current reachable working area have completed the integrated pollination and pollination operation.

[0119] Once the thinning and transplanting of all flower clusters within the reachable work area corresponding to the current fixed-point stopping position of the mobile platform 1 has been completed, the control system 4 controls the mobile platform 1 to move along the predetermined travel direction to the next work position and stop again at the fixed point. The above process is repeated until the thinning and transplanting of all flower clusters within the kiwifruit flowering period work area of ​​the trellis is completed.

[0120] The embodiments described above are preferred embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Any obvious improvements, substitutions or modifications that can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essence of the present invention shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A robot integrating flower thinning and pollination during the flowering period of kiwifruit on a trellis, characterized in that, It includes a mobile platform (1), a delivery arm (2), a vision perception system (3), a control system (4), and a delivery end effector (5). The dredging and feeding arm (2), the visual perception system (3), and the control system (4) are all installed on the mobile platform (1), and the dredging and feeding integrated end effector (5) is installed at the end of the dredging and feeding arm (2); the control system (4) is communicatively connected to the dredging and feeding arm (2), the visual perception system (3), and the dredging and feeding integrated end effector (5). The visual perception system (3) is used to acquire images and depth information of kiwifruit flower clusters from bottom to top; The integrated pollination and seeding end effector (5) includes a mounting base (51), a pollination module (52), and a seeding module (53). The mounting base (51) is connected to the end of the pollination and seeding arm (2). The pollination module (52) and the seeding module (53) are both mounted on the mounting base (51), and the seeding module (53) is located below the pollination module (52). The control system (4) determines the main flower (6) to be retained based on the visual perception result, and controls the thinning and feeding arm (2) to drive the thinning and feeding integrated end effector (5) to enter the flower cluster along the target feeding direction, so that the central flower stalk (61) of the main flower (6) to be retained is limited and protected. Under the same insertion posture, the thinning module (52) clamps and cuts the secondary flower (7) to be thinned, and the pollination module (53) performs directional pollination on the main flower (6) to be retained.

2. The integrated robot for thinning flowers and pollinating kiwifruit during flowering as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The flower thinning module (52) includes a U-shaped opening (521), a left scissor arm (522), a right scissor arm (523), a rotary cam (524), a cam motor, a release spring (525), a driven column (526), ​​and a rotating shaft (527). The U-shaped opening (521) is located at the front end of the mounting base (51). In the vertical direction, the left scissor arm (522), the U-shaped opening (521), and the right scissor arm (523) are arranged sequentially from top to bottom, and the three are mounted on the mounting base (51) by through screws. The front end of the scissor arm is a shearing part, and the rear end is provided with a driven column (526). The rotary cam (524) is located between the driven columns (526) on both sides and keeps in contact with the driven columns (526) on both sides. The bottom of the rotary cam (524) is fixed to the top of the rotating shaft (527), and the bottom of the rotating shaft (527) is connected to the output shaft of the cam motor. One end of the two opening springs (525) is hung on the left scissor arm (522) and the right scissor arm (523) respectively, and the other end is hung on the small column of the mounting base (51) respectively.

3. The integrated robot for thinning flowers and pollinating kiwifruit during flowering as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The U-shaped opening (521) is an integral structure, including an inlet, a bottom limiting section, and two guide sides; Let the width of the inlet be... The central pedicel (61) has a maximum diameter of The design measurement position is a predetermined distance taken from the base of the main flower (6) to be retained along the direction of the central pedicel (61). At the design measurement position, the smaller net distance between the central pedicel (61) and the pedicel of the adjacent secondary flower (7) to be thinned is... ,but .

4. The integrated robot for thinning flowers and pollinating kiwifruit during flowering as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The rotary cam (524) is a symmetrical double-sided pushing cam, and its continuous outer periphery includes a small radius section, a lift section, a maximum radial pushing part, and a return section. When the rotary cam (524) rotates to the position corresponding to the left and right driven small columns (526) of the maximum radial pushing part, the front ends of the left scissor arm (522) and the right scissor arm (523) form a closed shearing opening. When the rotary cam (524) rotates away from the position corresponding to the maximum radial pushing part, the left scissor arm (522) and the right scissor arm (523) form an open shearing opening under the action of the opening spring (525). Let the opening size of the open shearing opening be... The maximum diameter of the pedicel of the secondary flower (7) is ,but .

5. The integrated robot for thinning flowers and pollinating kiwifruit during flowering as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The pollination module (53) includes an air pump, an airflow channel (531), and a pollination outlet (532). The pollination outlet (532) is connected to the air pump through the airflow channel (531). The pollination outlet (532) is installed on the mounting base (51) and has a fixed spatial position relationship with the U-shaped opening (521). ,in, The bottom limit point for the U-shaped opening (521) The center point of the pollination outlet (532), For the U-shaped opening (521), the unit vector in the depth direction is... For the U-shaped opening (521), the vertical unit vector is... , For the pollination outlet (532) relative to the bottom limiting point of the U-shaped inlet (521) along and The structural offset of the direction; the alignment relationship between the pollination outlet (532) and the pollination target area is as follows: ,in, The unit vector in the direction of action of pollination outlet (532) is the pollination outlet. Allowable deviation for pollination.

6. The integrated robot for thinning flowers and pollinating kiwifruit during flowering as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The control system (4) controls the flower thinning module (52) and the pollination module (53) to operate according to the coordinated timing of thinning and pollination. The coordinated timing of thinning and pollination means that the time when the pollen-containing airflow reaches the pollination target area is the same as the time when the secondary flowers (7) to be thinned are completely cut off. Let the moment when the secondary flowers (7) to be thinned are completely cut off be The air pump starts at The time when pollen-laden airflow reaches the target pollination area is ,but ,in, This includes the time it takes for the air pump to establish the airflow, the time it takes for the pollen-containing airflow to run in the airflow channel (531), and the time it takes for the pollen-containing airflow to reach the pollination target area from the pollination outlet (532).

7. The integrated robot for thinning flowers and pollinating kiwifruit during flowering as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The control system (4) determines the main flower (6) to be retained based on the visual perception results, specifically as follows: The visual perception system (3) outputs the target center coordinates, category feature values ​​and actual area of ​​the corolla of each flower target within the same working field of view; The control system (4) divides the flower cluster target set according to the target center coordinates of each flower target in the same working field of view, and takes the flower targets in the same flower cluster target set that meet the open flower matching condition as the main flower candidate targets to be retained. The open flower matching condition is that the category feature value of the flower target is not less than the preset open flower matching threshold. When there is only one flower target in the same flower cluster target set that meets the open flower matching condition, the control system (4) directly determines the candidate target as the main flower to be retained (6). When there is no candidate target for the main flower to be retained that meets the open flower matching condition in the same flower cluster target set, the control system (4) does not output the main flower to be retained for the flower cluster. When there are two or more candidate targets for the main flower to be retained that meet the open flower matching condition in the same flower cluster target set, the control system (4) determines the openness index and drooping position index of each candidate target respectively. Let the first... The openness index of each candidate objective is The drooping position index is The overall evaluation value of the main flower is ,but Where α is the weight of the openness index and β is the weight of the drooping position index, The largest candidate target was identified as the main flower to be retained (6).

8. The integrated robot for thinning flowers and pollinating kiwifruit during flowering as described in claim 7, characterized in that, After determining the main flower to be retained, the control system (4) identifies the flowers in the same flower cluster that are other than the main flower to be retained and whose distance between the target center point and the target center point of the main flower to be retained is less than the preset secondary flower distance threshold as secondary flower targets to be thinned. The target of thinning secondary flowers is unopened lateral buds, half-open secondary flowers, or open secondary flowers; for flower clusters whose main flowers to be retained have not reached the pollination open state, the control system (4) does not generate a thinning and pollination integrated operation task; for flower clusters whose main flowers to be retained have reached the pollination open state and have target secondary flowers to be thinned, the control system (4) generates the waiting position before insertion and the insertion completion position, and determines the target feed direction, and controls the thinning and pollination integrated end effector (5) to perform secondary flower thinning and main flower directional pollination.

9. The integrated robot for thinning flowers and pollinating kiwifruit during flowering as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The control system (4) generates the three-dimensional center point of the main flower (6) to be retained based on the center coordinates and depth value of the main flower (6) to be retained after determination, performs height compensation in the vertical upward direction to generate the insertion completion position, and then retreats a preset insertion distance in the opposite direction of the target feed direction from the insertion completion position to generate the waiting position before insertion. Let the three-dimensional center point of the main flower (6) to be retained be... The vertical upward unit vector is The height compensation amount is Then the insertion is complete at the position. ; Let the target feed direction unit vector be... The preset insertion distance is Then wait for the position before insertion. ; The target feed direction is based on the horizontal lateral direction that is parallel to the trellis cultivation plane and perpendicular to the cultivation row direction; the control system (4) controls the thinning operation arm (2) to drive the thinning integrated end effector (5) to move to the pre-insertion waiting position. Then move linearly along the target feed direction to the insertion completion position. This allows the central pedicel (61) of the main flower (6) to be retained to enter the U-shaped opening (521) and be confined.

10. A method for operating a trellis kiwifruit flowering thinning-pollination integrated robot according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, include: The mobile platform (1) enters the kiwifruit flowering period operation area and stops at a fixed point. The visual perception system (3) acquires the flower cluster images and depth information of the thinning operation arm (2) within the operation area. The control system (4) identifies flower targets based on flower cluster images and depth information and generates corresponding spatial coordinates, thereby forming a set of flower cluster targets to be operated. The control system (4) determines the main flower (6) to be retained in the target set of each flower cluster to be operated. When the main flower (6) to be retained reaches the pollination open state and there is a target of thinning secondary flowers in the same flower cluster target set, the control system (4) determines the flower cluster target set as the flower cluster to be operated. The control system (4) generates the corresponding insertion completion position, the waiting position before insertion and the target feed direction for the flower cluster to be operated. When only one thinning and feeding arm is set up, the control system (4) controls the thinning and feeding arm to complete the thinning and feeding of each flower cluster in sequence according to the operation sequence; when multiple thinning and feeding arms are set up, the control system (4) assigns the flower clusters to be processed to the corresponding thinning and feeding arms according to the spatial position of each flower cluster and the reach of each thinning and feeding arm. The control system (4) controls the sparse and feed operation arm (2) to drive the sparse and feed integrated end effector (5) to first move to the pre-insertion waiting position corresponding to the current working flower cluster, and then move in a straight line along the target feed direction to the corresponding insertion completion position, so that the central flower stem (61) of the main flower to be retained (6) in the current working flower cluster enters the U-shaped opening (521) and is limited; The end effector (5) of the thinning and pollination system maintains its posture at the insertion completion position. The control system (4) controls the thinning module (52) to clamp and cut the secondary flowers (7) to be thinned in the current flower cluster, and controls the pollination module (53) to perform directional pollination on the main flowers (6) to be retained after being limited by the U-shaped opening (521). After the current working flower cluster completes the sparse and feed integrated operation, the control system (4) controls the sparse and feed operation arm (2) to drive the sparse and feed integrated end effector (5) to exit the preset exit distance in the opposite direction of the target feed direction, so that the sparse and feed integrated end effector (5) leaves the current working flower cluster and marks the current working flower cluster as completed; The control system (4) determines whether there are still unfinished flower clusters in the current reachable area; if there are, it determines the next flower cluster to be done from the remaining flower cluster targets and repeats the identification, insertion, clipping, pollination and exit steps; if there are no, it determines that all flower cluster targets in the current reachable area have completed the thinning and pollination integrated operation. When the mobile platform (1) completes the work in the currently reachable area corresponding to the current fixed stop position, the control system (4) controls the mobile platform (1) to move along the predetermined travel direction to the next work position and stop again. The above process is repeated until the thinning and transplanting work in the kiwifruit flowering period work area is completed.

Images