Automatic grape picking mechanical arm

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of agricultural robots, in particular to an automatic grape picking mechanical arm. The automatic grape picking mechanical arm comprises a connecting rod mechanical arm and a picker, the picker comprises a supporting vertical plate, a pruning device is arranged at the top end of the supporting vertical plate, a collector is arranged at the bottom end of the supporting vertical plate, and a visual sensor is arranged on the portion, between the pruning device and the collector, of the supporting vertical plate; the pruning device is used for cutting off fruit stems at the tops of the grapes, so that the grapes fall into the collector; the collector is used for collecting grapes and lowering and discharging the collected grapes; and the visual sensor is used for observing a to-be-sheared target. The automatic grape picking mechanical arm is scientific and reasonable in structural design and flexible to use, the requirements for effective collection and stable arrangement of picked grapes are met, packaging after subsequent screening is facilitated, and the picking efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of agricultural robots, in particular to an automatic grape picking robotic arm. Background Art

[0002] Grapes, as fruits for picking, are generally picked by hand. Although this method can reduce fruit damage, it has low efficiency and high labor intensity. With the rising labor cost, the cost of manual picking is high, and it is greatly affected by weather and seasonality, making it difficult to meet the demand of large-scale production.

[0003] With the rapid development of agricultural technology, picking machinery has become an indispensable part of modern agriculture. These intelligent devices greatly improve the picking efficiency and quality of crops through precise recognition and efficient operation. However, due to the unique shape of grapes themselves, it is difficult to stably grasp them with a mechanical hand, and it is also difficult to roll and transport them in a flexible pipeline. Moreover, for general robotic arm picking, since the robotic arm needs to frequently travel between the picking target and the transfer vehicle, the operation is troublesome and the efficiency is low.

[0004] The grape picking robot disclosed in the existing patent 2021111776891 "A Grape Picking Robot" can achieve the packaging and picking of grapes by its picker, and then collect them through a flexible channel and a bin, thereby realizing the sustainable picking of grapes and improving the picking efficiency. Specifically, its picker includes a housing, and the housing successively has a unwinder, a cutter, an upper tightening device, and a lower tightening device from top to bottom. The unwinder is used to unwind the packaging paper covering the grapes; the upper and lower tightening devices are tightened through the structure of elastic rubber rings and roller wheels in the bin. However, since this picker directly packages and transports the cut grapes immediately, it is impossible to remove the bad fruits in the grape clusters in the package, and re-screening still requires re-opening and re-packaging, and the bad fruits are likely to affect the quality of adjacent grapes, which has a certain impact on the quality of the packaged grapes. Summary of the Utility Model

[0005] The utility model provides an automatic grape picking robotic arm with a scientific and reasonable structural design, flexible use, meeting the requirements of effectively collecting and smoothly discharging the picked grapes, facilitating subsequent screening and packaging, improving the picking efficiency, and being able to solve the problems existing in the prior art.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the utility model is:

[0007] An automatic grape picking robotic arm includes a link robotic arm and a picker. The picker includes a support vertical plate, a pruning cutter is arranged at the top of the support vertical plate, a collector is arranged at the bottom of the support vertical plate, and a vision sensor is arranged on the support vertical plate between the pruning cutter and the collector.

[0008] The pruning shears are used to cut the pedicels at the top of the grapes so that the grapes fall into the collector; the collector is used to collect the grapes and discharge the collected grapes downward. The vision sensor is used to observe the target to be sheared.

[0009] Further, the automatic grape picking robotic arm further includes a controller, which receives the signals transmitted by the vision sensor and controls the linkage robotic arm to perform activities with multiple degrees of freedom; the controller is also used to control the discharge of the collected grapes by the collector when discharging.

[0010] Further, the collector is a collecting mesh bag, and the collecting mesh bag includes a hollow cylindrical structure that penetrates up and down. A flexible bag is sleeved inside the hollow cylindrical structure; the hollow cylindrical structure is surrounded by an upper support ring, a lower support ring and a netting arranged between the upper and lower support rings; a flexible bag tightening device is arranged above the lower support ring, and the flexible bag tightening device is used to tighten or open the bottom end of the flexible bag to realize the loading and discharging of the grapes contained therein.

[0011] Further, the flexible bag is a woven bag.

[0012] Further, a connecting plate is arranged between the upper support ring and the lower support ring. The top end of the connecting plate is connected to the bottom end of the support vertical plate for supporting and fixing the upper support ring, and the lower support ring is fixed to the bottom end of the connecting plate;

[0013] The flexible bag tightening device includes a rotating ring arranged above the lower support ring, and a rack is arranged on the inner wall of the rotating ring; a retaining ring is arranged below the rotating ring, and the protruding part of the retaining ring contacts the lower plane of the lower support ring to limit the longitudinal movement of the rotating ring; a motor is supported and arranged at the bottom of the connecting plate, and a gear is arranged outside the output shaft of the motor. The gear meshes with the rack on the rotating ring; several ropes are arranged between the rotating ring and the lower support ring, and cross nodes are formed during the relative rotation of the rotating ring and the lower support ring to realize the tightening or loosening of the bottom of the flexible bag inside the rotating ring.

[0014] Further, the motor is electrically connected to the aforementioned controller. After the controller receives the signal that the grapes in the collector are full, it controls the motor to drive the rotating ring to rotate to loosen the lower opening of the woven bag, so as to discharge the grapes in the woven bag onto the conveyor belt or the transport cart. This process does not require the collection mesh bag to be turned over when the grapes are poured out, so that the number of degrees of freedom of the robotic arm can be reduced, the process can be simplified, and the control difficulty can be reduced.

[0015] Further, the top ends of the ropes arranged between the rotating ring and the lower support ring are connected to the rotating ring, the bottom ends of the ropes are connected to the lower support ring, and the ropes are evenly spaced along the circumferential direction of the rotating ring.

[0016] Furthermore, there is a certain height difference between the rotating ring and the lower supporting ring, that is, there is a certain height difference between the top end of the rope and the bottom end of the rope, so as to realize the appearance of cross knots between the ropes during relative rotation.

[0017] Furthermore, the pruning shears are electric pruning shears.

[0018] Furthermore, the controller is electrically connected to the electric pruning shears for controlling the shearing operation of the electric pruning shears.

[0019] Furthermore, the connecting rod mechanical arm is driven by hydraulic pressure, and the mechanical arm has three rotational degrees of freedom, and can complete movement in three directions: up and down, front and back, and horizontal circumferential.

[0020] Furthermore, the robotic arm is supported by a support base, and the robotic arm is connected to one end of the support base for horizontal rotation. The robotic arm maintains a horizontal posture at the end through a parallelogram structure connecting rod.

[0021] Furthermore, the mechanical arm maintains a horizontal posture of the supporting upright plate connected to its end through a parallelogram structure connecting rod. The above-mentioned pruning device is horizontally installed on the top of the supporting upright plate.

[0022] Furthermore, the automatic grape picking robot arm can be installed on a mobile facility for use.

[0023] Beneficial effects of the utility model:

[0024] 1. The automatic grape picking mechanical arm of the utility model has a simple, scientific and reasonable structural design, is easy to control, and can be conveniently adjusted in three directions: up and down, front and back, and horizontally. During the adjustment process, the end of the mechanical arm is kept horizontal, which is convenient for the cutting of the electric pruning device.

[0025] 2. Compared with the existing mechanical arm structure for picking, the automatic grape picking robot arm does not directly grab the grapes, thus avoiding damage to the grapes. At the same time, the collection net bag is a flexible collection bag, which reduces the damage to the grapes when they fall; the bottom of the collection net bag is equipped with a flexible bag tightening device, so that there is no need to flip the net bag when discharging the grapes, thereby reducing the number of degrees of freedom of the robot arm, simplifying the process and reducing the difficulty of control. The collected grapes are directly discharged by loosening the flexible bag tightening device. Compared with the existing technology that designs a complex packaging structure after picking to package a single bunch of grapes and tighten it up and down, the structure is simplified, avoiding the impact of bad fruits in the directly packaged grape bunches, and making it more convenient to screen the discharged grapes and process them uniformly. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the utility model;

[0027] Figure 2 forFigure 1 Schematic structural diagram of the middle collector;

[0028] Figure 3 is Figure 2 Schematic longitudinal sectional structure diagram;

[0029] Figure 4 is Figure 2 Schematic structure diagram after removing the rope net;

[0030] Figure 5 Schematic reference diagram of the tightened state of the tightening device.

[0031] Among them, 1 is the connecting rod manipulator, 2 is the pruning shears, 3 is the collection net pocket, 4 is the knitting bag tightening device, 5 is the vision sensor, 6 is the knitting bag, 7 is the support vertical plate, 8 is the upper support ring, 9 is the lower support ring, 10 is the rope net, 11 is the connecting plate, 12 is the rotating ring, 13 is the retaining ring, 14 is the motor, and 15 is the rope. Specific implementation manner

[0032] To clearly illustrate the technical features of this solution, the following will elaborate on the present utility model in detail through specific implementation manners in combination with the accompanying drawings.

[0033] In the description of the present utility model, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present utility model and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation to the present utility model.

[0034] As Figures 1-5 shown, the automatic grape picking manipulator includes a connecting rod manipulator 1, an electric pruning shears 2, a collection net pocket 3, a knitting bag tightening device 4, and a vision sensor 5. Specifically, the connecting rod manipulator 1 is hydraulically driven and includes three rotational degrees of freedom, capable of performing movements in three directions: up and down, front and back, and horizontal circumferential. The connecting rod manipulator 1 is supported by a support base, and the manipulator is horizontally rotatably connected to one end of the support base. The manipulator maintains the horizontal attitude of the end through a parallelogram structure connecting rod. The electric pruning shears 2 are installed at the end of the connecting rod manipulator to cut the fruit stalk at the top of the grape, causing the grape to fall into the collection net pocket 3. The collection net pocket 3 is equipped with a knitting bag 6 of the same structure. After the knitting bag is filled, it can be loosened by the knitting bag tightening device 4 provided at the lower part, enabling the grapes to be discharged and collected on the transfer vehicle.

[0035] According to actual needs, the collection net bag can be designed to have a volume for loading 2-3 bunches of grapes at a time, which can minimize the damage to the grapes during collection; and compared with the existing grape picking devices that basically pick and hold one bunch of grapes each time, it can significantly improve the efficiency of grape picking.

[0036] A support vertical plate 7 is arranged at the end of the connecting rod manipulator 1. The electric pruning shears 2 are arranged at the top of the support vertical plate, and the collection net bag 3 is arranged at the bottom of the support vertical plate. The aforementioned visual sensor 4 is arranged on the support vertical plate between the electric pruning shears 2 and the collection net bag.

[0037] The collection net bag 3 includes a hollow cylindrical structure that penetrates up and down. The aforementioned woven bag 6 is sleeved inside the hollow cylindrical structure; the hollow cylindrical structure is surrounded by an upper support ring 8, a lower support ring 9, and a netting 10 arranged between the upper and lower support rings; a woven bag tightening device 4 is arranged above the lower support ring 9. The woven bag tightening device 4 is used to tighten or open the bottom end of the woven bag 6 to realize the loading and discharging of the grapes contained therein.

[0038] A vertical connecting plate 11 is arranged on one side between the upper support ring 8 and the lower support ring 9. The top end of the connecting plate is connected to the bottom end of the support vertical plate 7 for supporting and fixing the upper support ring 8, and the lower support ring 9 is fixed to the bottom end of the connecting plate 11. The woven bag tightening device 4 includes a rotating ring 12 arranged above the lower support ring 9, and a rack is arranged on the inner wall of the rotating ring; a retaining ring 13 is arranged below the rotating ring, and the protruding part of the retaining ring contacts the lower plane of the lower support ring 9 to limit the longitudinal movement of the rotating ring 12; a motor 14 is supported and arranged at the bottom of the connecting plate 11, and a gear is arranged outside the output shaft of the motor. The gear meshes with the rack on the inner wall of the rotating ring 12; a plurality of ropes 15 are arranged between the rotating ring 12 and the lower support ring 9. The ropes form cross nodes during the relative rotation of the rotating ring and the lower support ring, so as to realize the tightening or loosening of the bottom of the woven bag 6 inside the rotating ring 12.

[0039] The top end of the rope 15 arranged between the rotating ring 12 and the lower support ring 9 is connected to the rotating ring, and the bottom end of the rope is connected to the lower support ring. The ropes are evenly spaced along the circumferential direction of the rotating ring.

[0040] The automatic grape-picking robotic arm further includes a controller, which is electrically connected to the electric pruning shears, the vision sensor, the drive mechanism of the link robotic arm, and the motor. The controller receives the signals transmitted by the vision sensor and controls the link robotic arm 1 to perform activities with multiple degrees of freedom; the controller controls the motor 14 to drive the rotating ring 12 to rotate to tighten the lower opening of the woven bag 6, so as to collect the picked grapes. After the controller receives the signal that the grape collection net pocket 3 is full of grapes transmitted by the vision sensor, it controls the motor 14 to drive the rotating ring 12 to rotate in the reverse direction to loosen the lower opening of the woven bag 6, so as to discharge the grapes in the woven bag 6 onto the conveyor belt or the transport trolley. The process of discharging grapes does not require the collection net pocket to be flipped when the grapes are poured out, thus reducing the number of degrees of freedom of the robotic arm, simplifying the process and reducing the control difficulty.

[0041] The working principle of the present utility model:

[0042] The vision sensor 5 identifies the ripe grapes and determines the coordinates, and transmits the signals to the controller. The controller controls the movement of the link robotic arm 1 to move the electric pruning shears 2 at the end to the grape stalk, cuts the stalk, and makes the grapes fall into the woven bag 6. At this time, the woven bag tightening device 4 is in a tightened state. Continue to repeat the above process to pick grapes. When the vision sensor 5 detects that the woven bag 6 is full, the controller controls the link robotic arm 1 to transport the grape collection net pocket 3 above the transfer vehicle, opens the woven bag tightening device 4, and discharges the grapes into the transfer vehicle, completing a picking work cycle. The working process of opening and closing the above-mentioned woven bag tightening device is as follows:

[0043] Control the motor 14 to rotate forward. The gear on the motor output shaft drives the rotating ring 12 to rotate relative to the lower support ring 9. At this time, the ropes 15 respectively connected to the rotating ring and the lower support ring at both ends form a cross knot due to the existence of a certain height difference. This knot directly forms a tightened and closed state for the bottom of the woven bag 6, forming a woven bag with a sealed bottom end; then, pick grapes according to the aforementioned working principle. When the picking is completed and it is necessary to discharge the grapes in the woven bag, control the motor 14 to rotate in the reverse direction. The motor output shaft drives the rotating ring 12 to rotate back, so that the ropes 15 forming the cross knot gradually loosen to a state of being basically vertically parallel. At this time, the bottom of the woven bag 6 is open, and the grapes are directly discharged through the bottom opening of the woven bag.

[0044] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. in the description, claims and above-mentioned drawings of the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and do not have to be used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present application described here can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described here.

[0045] The above specific embodiments shall not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present utility model. For those skilled in the art of this technology, any alternative improvement or transformation made to the embodiments of the present utility model shall fall within the scope of protection of the present utility model.

[0046] Those details not described in the present utility model are all well-known technologies to those skilled in the art of this technology.

Claims

1. A grape automatic picking robot arm, comprising a connecting rod robot arm and a picking device, characterized in that: The picker includes a support plate, a pruning device is arranged at the top of the support plate, a collector is arranged at the bottom of the support plate, and a visual sensor is arranged on the support plate between the pruning device and the collector; The pruning device is used to cut off the top stalks of the grapes, so that the grapes fall into the collector; the collector is used to collect the grapes and discharge the collected grapes downward; the visual sensor is used to observe the target to be sheared.

2. The automatic grape picking robot arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The collector is a collecting net bag, which includes a hollow cylindrical structure that passes through the top and the bottom, and a flexible bag is arranged inside the hollow cylindrical structure; the hollow cylindrical structure is surrounded by an upper supporting ring, a lower supporting ring and a rope net arranged between the upper and lower supporting rings; a flexible bag tightening device is arranged above the lower supporting ring, and the flexible bag tightening device is used to tighten or open the bottom end of the flexible bag to achieve the loading and discharge of the grapes contained therein.

3. The automatic grape picking robot arm according to claim 2, characterized in that: A connecting plate is provided between the upper supporting ring and the lower supporting ring, the top end of the connecting plate is connected to the bottom end of the supporting vertical plate, and is used to support and fix the upper supporting ring, and the lower supporting ring is fixed to the bottom end of the connecting plate; The flexible bag tightening device includes a rotating ring arranged above the lower supporting ring, and a rack is arranged on the inner wall of the rotating ring; a retaining ring is arranged below the rotating ring, and the protruding part of the retaining ring is in contact with the lower plane of the lower supporting ring, which is used to limit the longitudinal movement of the rotating ring; a motor is arranged on the bottom support of the connecting plate, and a gear is arranged on the outer side of the output shaft of the motor, and the gear is meshed with the rack on the rotating ring; a plurality of ropes are arranged between the rotating ring and the lower supporting ring, and the ropes form cross nodes during the relative rotation of the rotating ring and the lower supporting ring, so as to realize the tightening or loosening of the bottom of the flexible bag inside the rotating ring.

4. The automatic grape picking robot arm according to claim 3, characterized in that: The top end of the rope arranged between the rotating ring and the lower supporting ring is connected to the rotating ring, and the bottom end of the rope is connected to the lower supporting ring. The ropes are evenly spaced along the circumferential direction of the rotating ring.

5. The automatic grape picking robot arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pruning tool is an electric pruning tool.

6. The automatic grape picking robot arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The connecting rod mechanical arm is driven by hydraulic pressure, and the mechanical arm has three rotational degrees of freedom, and can complete movements in three directions: up and down, front and back, and horizontal circumferential.

7. The automatic grape picking robot arm according to claim 6, characterized in that: The mechanical arm is supported by a support base, and the mechanical arm is connected to the support base at one end for horizontal rotation. The mechanical arm maintains a horizontal posture at the end through a parallelogram structure connecting rod.

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