Green Fruit Removal Dynamics for Robotic Green Fruit Thinning End-Effector Development

Green fruit thinning is one of the most important operations in apple production for obtaining high-quality fruit. Manual thinning is time-intensive, making it impractical for large orchards. Some alternative methods, such as chemical and mechanical thinning, have greatly improved work efficiency, but both methods have drawbacks due to non-selective targeting. Robotic green fruit thinning can potentially be as selective as manual thinning. This study developed an effective end-effector for robotic green fruit thinning. Prior to designing the end-effector, a series of fruit removal dynamics tests were conducted to determine the forces required for robotic thinning using pulling or stem-cutting methods on three different apple cultivars. The overall mean forces for pulling detachment were 24.78±0.48 N and 19.91±0.55 N when detaching stem from the fruit-end and the spur-end, respectively. The average force required for stem-cutting was 33.6±8.0 N among the three cultivars. No significant differences were found between the fruit or stem dimensions and the force required for fruit removal. A stem-cutting end-effector prototype was then developed to conduct fruit removal experiments in field conditions. Two end-effector prototype configurations were tested: one placing the end-effector on a handheld bar, and the other integrating the end-effector with a six DoF robotic manipulator. The success rates of green fruit removal for all end-effector prototype experiments were over 90%. The end-effector is a core component of an automated green fruit thinning system. Integration with the robotic manipulator also indicated the potential of a robotic green fruit system to remove fruit at different locations and orientations. A machine vision system will be developed and integrated with the end-effector to develop a robotic green fruit thinning system.

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Work Title Green Fruit Removal Dynamics for Robotic Green Fruit Thinning End-Effector Development
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Magni Hussain
  2. Long He
  3. James R Schupp
  4. Paul Heinemann
Keyword
  1. Apple
  2. Crop load management
  3. End-effector
  4. Fruit removal dynamics
  5. Robotic thinning
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Journal of the ASABE
Publication Date 2022
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.13031/ja.14974
Deposited January 30, 2023

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Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added Green_Fruit_Removal_Dynamics_for_Robotic_Green_Fruit_Thinning_submission_Revision-R2.docx
  • Added Creator Magni Hussain
  • Added Creator Long He
  • Added Creator James R Schupp
  • Added Creator Paul Heinemann
  • Added Creator Paul Heinemann
  • Added Creator James Schupp
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Apple, Crop load management, End-effector, Fruit removal dynamics, Robotic thinning
    Publication Date
    • 2022-01-01
    • 2022
  • Deleted Creator Paul Heinemann
  • Deleted Creator James Schupp
  • Updated