SUMMARYStrawberry is a very delicate fruit that requires special treatment during harvesting. A hierarchical control scheme is proposed based on a fuzzy controller for the force regulation of the gripper and proper grasping criteria, that can detect misplaced strawberries on the gripper or uneven distribution of forces. The design of the gripper and the controller are based on conducted experiments to measure the maximum gripping force and the required detachment force under a variety of detachment techniques. It is demonstrated that the hand motion for detaching the fruit from the stem has a significant role in the process because it can reduce the required force. By analysing those results a robotic gripper with pressure profile sensors is developed that demonstrates an efficiency comparable to the human hand for strawberry grasping. The designed gripper and fuzzy controller performance is tested with a considerable number of fresh fruits to demonstrate the effectiveness to the uncertainties of strawberry grasping.

The traditional manufacturing sectors (footwear, textiles and clothing, furniture and toys, among others) are based on small and medium enterprises with limited capacity on investing in modern production technologies. Although these sectors rely heavily on product customization and short manufacturing cycles, they are still not able to take full advantage of the fourth industrial revolution. Industry 4.0 surfaced to address the current challenges of shorter product life-cycles, highly customized products and stiff global competition. The new manufacturing paradigm supports the development of modular factory structures within a computerized Internet of Things environment. With Industry 4.0, rigid planning and production processes can be revolutionized. However, the computerization of manufacturing has a high degree of complexity and its implementation tends to be expensive, which goes against the reality of SMEs that power the traditional sectors. This paper reviews the main scientific-technological advances that have been developed in recent years in traditional sectors with the aim of facilitating the transition to the new industry standard.

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