Development of a high-productivity grafting robot for Solanaceae

Abstract

Grafting is a green, environmentally friendly, and sustainable way to prevent soil-borne diseases. Although artificial grafting is the main grafting approach used for grafting production, it has some problems which are low productivity, unstable operating quality and labor-intensive. Hence, some countries have been engaged in the development of grafting robots for the past two decades; however, the productivity of these grafting robots has no advantage when compared to artificial grafting. This study aims to develop a high-productivity grafting robot (HPR) for Solanaceae. To improve grafting productivity, this paper adopted plug trays to feed crown-removed rootstocks automatically and carried out multi-plant simultaneous grafting to improve grafting productivity and extensibility. Manipulators were employed to take out rootstocks, increase the distance between them, and transfer them to transfer cups for the simultaneous multi-plant grafting. At the same time, negative pressure mechanisms were designed for speeding up the auxiliary feeding of root-removed scions. Although the HPR was designed in a two-operator mode, a one-operator mode can also be implemented by adjusting the control program. Tests were conducted by varying the artificial feeding speed to analyze the performance of the grafting robot. The results showed that the productivity of the robot in the two-operator mode was 2250 plants/h, and 1542 plants/h in one-operator mode; comparing the artificial feeding productivity with auto grafting productivity, it was found that the capacity of the grafting robot was higher than the feeding speed of the one-operator mode but lower than that of the two-operator mode.

Grafting for managing vegetable crop pests

“…ISO grafting robots are used in Europe and Asia (14 machines) and North America (six machines) 54 . A high productivity grafting robot for Solanaceae that removes rootstock crowns, automatically feeds rootstocks, and grafts multiple scions on rootstocks simultaneously was recently developed in China 55 . The robot can be used by one or two operators or can run using an auto grafting mode without an operator.…”

“…54 A high productivity grafting robot for Solanaceae that removes rootstock crowns, automatically feeds rootstocks, and grafts multiple scions on rootstocks simultaneously was recently developed in China. 55 The robot can be used by one or two operators or can run using an auto grafting mode without an operator. Productivity of the robot was 1542 plants versus 2250 plants per hour in the one-operator mode or twooperator mode, respectively.…”

Design and Experiment of Automatic Clip-Feeding Mechanism for Vegetable-Grafting Robot

“…The clamping hand of the clip-feeding mechanism clamps the tail of the grafting clip to open it, and the clip-feeding rate can reach about 96%. In this process, there is no need to push the clip; thus, the damage rate of the grating clip is very low [23,24].…”

Study on the Method of Matched Splice Grafting for Melon Seedlings Based on Visual Image

“…The technology of the grafting machine has always been the hot spot in agricultural robots in the world [12][13][14]. Melon grafting machine technology is popular in Asian countries, such as Japan, Korea, and China [15,16]; European countries, such as the Netherlands, Span, and Italy, are mainly focused on the research and development of grafting machine of solanaceous vegetables [17][18][19][20]. In 1994, ISEKI & Co. Ltd. in Japan worked with biological research institutes and launched a GR800B type semi-automatic grafting machine, which adopts the model of matched splice grafting for single seedlings and achieves production efficiency of 800 seedlings/h and success rate of 95% [21].…”