Robotic Aubergine Harvesting Using Dual-Arm Manipulation

Abstract

Interest in agricultural automation has increased considerably in recent decades due to benefits such as improving productivity or reducing the labor force. However, there are some current problems associated with unstructured environments make developing a robotic harvester a challenge. This article presents a dual-arm aubergine harvesting robot consisting of two robotic arms configured in an anthropomorphic manner to optimize the dual workspace. To detect and locate the aubergines automatically, we implemented an algorithm based on a support vector machine (SVM) classifier and designed a planning algorithm for scheduling efficient fruit harvesting that coordinates the two arms throughout the harvesting process. Finally, we propose a novel algorithm for dealing with occlusions using the capabilities of the dual-arm robot for coordinate work. Therefore, the main contribution of this study is the implementation and validation of a dual-arm harvesting robot with planning and control algorithms, which, depending on the locations of the fruits and the configuration of the arms, enables the following: (i) the simultaneous harvesting of two aubergines; (ii) the harvesting of a single aubergine with a single arm; or (iii) a collaborative behavior between the arms to solve occlusions. This cooperative operation mimics complex human harvesting motions such as using one arm to push leaves aside while the other arm picks the fruit. The performance of the proposed harvester is evaluated through laboratory tests that simulate the most common real-world scenarios. The results show that the robotic harvester has a success rate of 91.67% and an average cycle time of 26 s/fruit.

Advances in Agriculture Robotics: A State-of-the-Art Review and Challenges Ahead

“…Sepúlveda et al addressed robotic aubergine harvesting using dual-arm manipulation [80]. Through two 6-DoF robotic arms, as shown in Figure 8d, underactuated grippers with a set of three flexible fingers (off-the-shelf) and two cameras, the robotic system was used to analyze the benefits generated by the collaborative action of the manipulators.…”

Opportunities of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in the Food Industry

“…In robocroping or agricultural automation, outstanding work has been carried out by various authors in the field of harvesting robots [23][24][25] that has increased productivity considerably in recent decades.…”

“…ese systems became popular due to advancement and additional benefits which are improved productivity and reduced labor force. e previously published article [23] described the dual-arm harvesting robot which consists of dual arms arranged in an optimized manner. is dual-arm robot is suitable for fruit harvesting and based on SVM.…”

Simulation Design of a Tomato Picking Manipulator

“…Automated picking improves work efficiency and reduces labor intensity, marking an important trend in agricultural automation [1][2][3]. With an annual output of over 60 million tons of tomatoes [4], China needs a large number of automated tomato picking devices [5].…”