A
robot-assisted method of sorting and / or packing
vine fruit into containers 142 by a
hybrid robotic and
human system comprises placing
vine fruit 133 onto a computer-controlled conveyor 130a, 130b, inspecting the
vine fruit 133 for defects, removing any fruit identified as having a defect from the conveyor130a, 130b, weighing the vine fruit, in the event that the weight of the vine fruit 133 is above a selected threshold,
cutting the vine fruit using a robotic end
effector 120 mounted on a
robotic arm 110 to produce a
cut vine having an
estimated weight below the selected threshold, placing the
cut vine into a container 142, checking the weight of the container 142 holding the
cut vine, determining whether the weight of the container 142 holding the cut vine is within a selected threshold
weight range, and in the event that the determined weight is outside the selected threshold
weight range,
topping up the container with vine fruit to reach the selected threshold
weight range. Placing the cut vine into a container 142 may comprise using a robotic end
effector 122 mounted on a
robotic arm 114. Weighing the vine fruit 133 may comprise making a determination based upon received image data of the vine fruit 133. Inspecting the vine fruit 133 for defects may comprise applying a trained
machine learning model to received image data of the vine fruit 133. Determining whether the weight of the container 142 holding the cut vine is within a selected threshold weight range may comprise passing the container 142 over an in-line weight scale 260.