Abstract
The efficiency and effectiveness of end-effectors greatly influence the overall performance of the robotic systems as they come into direct contact with the objects being manipulated by the robot. Considering the extensive need of robotic technologies for various labor-intensive tasks in agriculture, end-effectors for agricultural robots are required to handle a great diversity of objects, such as fruit, leaves, flowers, stems, and even animal body parts. Example end-effectors that depict special challenges faced in agricultural robotics are the end-effectors for picking fresh market fruit such as tomato, apples and oranges. There have been wide research and development efforts around the world in developing efficient and robust fruit picking end-effectors. Therefore, this chapter provides a comprehensive review on the existing end-effectors for fresh-market fruit picking/harvesting. The end-effectors were categorized according to the principle of fruit picking: (i) fruit-holding mechanisms; (ii) stem-holding mechanisms; and (iii) direct separation. Specially for fruit-holding end-effectors, five different categories of methods for flexible fruit holding were introduced in detail: (i) elastic buffering; (ii) under-actuated fingers; (iii) flexible driving; (iv) clamping force feedback system; and (v) air suction. With reference to these methods, crucial parameters for designing an effective picking end-effector were discussed in depth including finger configuration, number of fingers, and physical property of fruit. Besides, major challenges on picking fresh market fruit with an automatic end-effector were discussed. Finally, some thoughts and insights on the future trends in technology advancement and potential solutions for overcoming the existing technical challenges were presented.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Allotta B, Buttazzo G, Dario P (1990) A force/torque sensor-based technique for robot harvesting of fruits and vegetables. Proceedings of IEEE international workshop on intelligent robots and systems, towards a new frontier of applications, pp 231‑235
Anandan T (2016) Robots help feed the World. Retrieved 27 Oct 2016, from https://www.robotics.org/content-detail.cfm/Industrial-Robotics-Industry-Insights/Robots-Help-Feed-the-World/content_id/6292
Arad B, Balendonck J, Barth R, Shahar O, Edan Y, Hellström T, Hemming J, Kurtser P, Ringdahl O, Tielen T, Tuijl B (2019) Development of a sweet pepper harvesting robot. J Field Robot:1–13
Bachche S, Oka K (2013) Performance testing of thermal cutting systems for sweet pepper harvesting robot in greenhouse horticulture. J Syst Design Dynam 7(1):36–51
Bao G, Gao F, Xun Y, Yang Q (2009) Flexible end-effector based on flexible pneumatic actuator and its grasping model. Trans CSAE 25(10):121–126
Chatterjee D, Hanumaiah N, Bahramzadeh Y, Shahinpoor M (2013) Actuation and sensing studies of a miniaturized five fingered robotic hand made with Ion polymeric metal composite (IPMC). Adv Mater Res 740:492–495
Chen X, Chaudhary K, Tanaka Y, Nagahama K, Yaguchi H, Okada K, Inaba M (2015) Reasoning-based vision recognition for agricultural humanoid robot toward tomato harvesting. Proceedings of the IEEE international conference on intelligent robots and systems, pp 6487–6494
Christopher L, Andrew E, Christopher M, Adam W, Tristan P (2017) Autonomous sweet pepper harvesting for protected cropping systems. IEEE Robot Auto Lett 2(2):872–879
Courtney R, Mullinax T (2019) Washington orchards host robotic arms race. Retrieved 2 Dec 2019, from https://www.goodfruit.com/washington-orchards-host-robotic-arms-race/
Dimeas F, Sako D, Moulianitis V (2015) Design and fuzzy control of a robotic grpper for efficient strawberry harvesting. Robotica 33(5):1085–1098
Feng Q, Wang X, Zheng W (2012) A new strawberry harvesting robot for elevated-trough culture. Int J Agri Biol Eng 5(2):1–8
Feng Q, Wang X, Wang G, Li Z (2015) Design and test of tomatoes harvesting robot. Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation, (ICIA 2015), pp 949–952
Feng Q, Zhang M, Xu R, Zhang C, Wang X (2018) Design and test of robotic harvesting system for cherry tomato. Int J Agri Biol Eng 11(1):96–100
Feng Q, Wang G, Wang S, Wang X (2019) Tomato’s mechanical properties measurement aiming for auto-harvesting. IOP Conf Series Adv Mater Sci Eng 585(1):012120
Gauchel W (2014) Freshly picked – harvesting with robots. Retrieved 26 Sept 2014. https:// www.festo.com/group/en/cms/10382.htm
Hannan M, Burks T (2004) Current developments in automated citrus harvesting. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Annual International Meeting
Henten J, Hemming J, Tuijl B, Kornet J, Meuleman J, Bontsema J, Os E (2002) An autonomous robot for harvesting cucumbers in greenhouses. Auton Robot 13(3):241–258
Huffman W (2010) The status of labor-saving mechanization in fruits and vegetables. Staff general research papers archive 31630, Iowa State University, Department of Economics, pp 11–13
Ji W, Luo D, Li J, Yang J, Zhao D (2014) Compliance grasp force control for end-effector of fruit-vegetable picking robot. Trans CSAE 30(9):19–26
Jin Y (2010) End-effector of apple picking based on flexible pneumatic actuator FPA. Master’s thesis, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Kondo N, Ting K (1998) Robotics for bioproduction systems. American Society of Agricultural Engineers, pp 30–38
Krikke J (2005) Robotics research exploits opportunities for growth. IEEE Pervasive Comput 4(3):7–10
Li W, Wang K, Tan Y, Yang Q, Gao F, Yuan T, Ren Y, Hou M, Feng Q (2008) Study on the technology of cucumber harvesting robot in greenhouse. In: Proceedings of 4th national advanced manufacturing equipment and robotics summit forum
Ling P, Ehsani R, Ting K (2004) Sensing and end-effector for a robotic tomato harvester. In: Proceedings of the ASAE annual meeting paper
Monta M, Kondo N, Ting K (1998) End-effectors for tomato harvesting robot. Artif Intell Rev 12(1):11–25
Muscato G, Prestifilippo M, Abbate N (2005) A prototype of an orange picking robot: past history, the new robot and experimental results. Indus Robot J 32(2):128–138
Peng Y, Zhang Z, Liu Y, Xu T, Zhang L, Wang R (2019) Kinematics and vibration mode analysis of vibrating harvesting for wolfberry. Mech Res Appl 32(02):8–13
Pettersson A, Davis S, Gray J (2010) Design of a magnetorheological robot gripper for handling of delicate food products with varying shapes. J Food Eng 98(3):332–338
Preter A, Anthonis J, Baerdemaeker J (2018) Development of a robot for harvesting strawberries. IFAC-PapersOnLine 51(17):14–19
Silwal A, Davidson J, Karkee M, Mo C, Zhang Q, Lewis K (2016) Design, integration, and field evaluation of a robotic apple harvester. J Field Robot 34:1104–1159
Tarvainen T, Yu W (2017) Pneumatic multi-pocket elastomer actuators for metacarpophalangeal joint flexion and abduction-adduction. Actuators 6(3):27–49
Thorne J (2019) Apple-picking robots gear up for U.S. debut in Washington State. Retrieved 13 May 2019, from https://www.geekwire.com/2019/apple-picking-robots-gear-u-s-debut-washigton-state
Wang X, Wu P, Feng Q, Wang G (2016) Design and test of tomatoes harvesting robot. J Agri Mech Res 38(4):94–98
Yang K, Gu C (2007) Research on novel shape memory alloy multi-fingered humanoid hand. Proc Inst Mech Eng C J Mech Eng Sci 221(9):1131–1140
Yang Q, Jin Y, Qian S, Bao G (2010) Research on end-effector of apple picking based on new flexible pneumatic actuator. Trans CSAM 41(09):154–158
Zhang F (2014) Research and design on the non-destructive end-effector of Kiwifruit harvesting robot. Doctor’s thesis, Northwest A&F University, Yanglin, Xi’an
Zhang K, Yang L, Zhang T (2011) Design and experiment of picking mechanism for strawberry harvesting robot. Trans CSAM 42(9):155–161
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Feng, Q. (2021). End-Effector Technologies. In: Karkee, M., Zhang, Q. (eds) Fundamentals of Agricultural and Field Robotics. Agriculture Automation and Control. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70400-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70400-1_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-70399-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-70400-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)