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Cucumber Harvesting Robot and Plant Training System
Seiichi Arima* and Naoshi Kondo**
*Agri-Tech Research Section, Tsukuba Engineering Department, ISEKI & CO,,LTD. Ami 4818, Ami-cho, Inashiki-gun, Ibaraki 300-0331, Japan
**Laboratory of Agricultural Systems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Okayama University, 1-1-1, Tsushima-Naka, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
Received:February 1, 1999Accepted:April 30, 1999Published:June 20, 1999
Keywords:cucumber, manipulator, end-effector, image processing, plant training system
Abstract
Cucumber is one of the most popular vegetables cultivated in Japan. It must be harvested daily because of rapid maturation and the deterioration of quality in cucumbers harvested too late. We developed a cucumber harvesting robot using a visual sensor, manipulator, endeffector, and traveling device. To discriminate cucumbers from leaves and stems, we used a monochrome TV camera with 550 nm and 850 nm wavelength interference filters. After thresholding images, cucumbers were recognized morphologically. A seven degree-of-freedom (DOF) polar coordinate manipulator moved to a target cucumber and a harvesting end-effector grasped the top, detected the peduncle, and cut it. The manipulator and end-effector were trialmanufactured based on the cucumber's physical properties. A 4-wheel traveling device carrying the robot then moved to the next plant. Experiments verified the robot's feasibility in harvesting cucumbers.
Cite this article as:S. Arima and N. Kondo, “Cucumber Harvesting Robot and Plant Training System,” J. Robot. Mechatron., Vol.11 No.3, pp. 208-212, 1999.Data files:
Copyright© 1999 by Fuji Technology Press Ltd. and Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers. All right reserved.
