Robotic Harvesting System with Rotating Grippers for Selective Picking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manual labor-intensive strawberry harvesting leads to high labor costs and inefficiencies due to seasonal labor shortages, resulting in unpicked crops and unplanted fields.
Innovation Solution
A robotic harvesting system with a picking apparatus featuring rotatable grippers that can selectively pick ripe crops while leaving unripe ones on the plant, utilizing a foliage displacement mechanism to expose crops and an imaging system for crop detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual labor is used for strawberry harvesting, then selective picking of ripe crops can be achieved, but labor costs increase and productivity decreases due to seasonal labor shortages
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic harvesting system performs harvesting operations autonomously without human intervention. The robot navigates the field, identifies ripe strawberries using imaging systems, and executes picking operations independently, eliminating dependency on seasonal labor while maintaining selective harvesting capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical action of human pickers with an automated robotic system. The robot uses imaging sensors to detect ripe crops and automated grippers to perform picking, substituting human labor with a mechanical system that operates continuously without seasonal constraints
2Ease of operation
If manual harvesting is used, then crops can be selectively picked, but labor costs increase and fields must be left unplanted to avoid waste
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system uses imaging sensors to continuously monitor and identify ripe crops in the field. This feedback mechanism allows the robot to selectively target only ripe strawberries for harvesting, ensuring that unripe crops are left on the plants and eliminating the need to leave fields unplanted due to anticipated waste
Solution Approach 2:
The robot autonomously performs the selective harvesting function, independently identifying and picking only ripe crops without human intervention. This self-service capability ensures consistent selective harvesting that prevents crop waste while maximizing field utilization
3Productivity
If automated robotic harvesting is implemented, then productivity increases and labor costs decrease, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic harvesting system is designed as a multi-functional platform that integrates navigation, crop detection using imaging sensors, ripeness assessment, and automated picking operations. This universal design consolidates multiple harvesting functions into a single system, managing complexity through functional integration rather than separate systems
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a modular robotic architecture where specialized subsystems (imaging system, gripper mechanism, navigation components) are nested within the main robotic platform. This nested structure allows each subsystem to be independently optimized while contributing to the overall harvesting function, managing system complexity through hierarchical organization
Data Source
AI summary
A system including a first carrier configured to carry at least one first robotic system. The system also can include a second carrier configured to be coupled to a vehicle that is movable across a surface. The first carrier can be movably coupled to and carried by the second carrier. The system can be configured to automatically hold the first carrier in a first position and stationary in a first direction with respect to the surface during a first time period while the vehicle moves the second carrier in the first direction with respect to the surface during the first time period, such that at least a portion the at least one first robotic system carried by the first carrier is stationary in the first direction with respect to the surface during the first time period. Other embodiments are provided.