Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Sensory
systems
Robot
manipulator
End effector
Supervisory
control
and
integration
Onboard
grading
Material
handling
Vehicle
platform and
powerplant
Autonomous
guidance
Local
computing
and
networking
FIGURE 7.19
Functional areas of the robotic system.
systems must be equipped with adequate power resources to not only propel itself
but also to power the various devices that it carries. This will normally require sig-
nificant hydraulic, pneumatic, and electric power capacity. In addition, appropriate
environmental protection must be provided for the human supervisor and controller
components, because, at this stage of development, it is unlikely that any system will
be fully autonomous. The platform may provide some level of autonomous guidance,
especially within the alleyway to relieve the supervisor of driving responsibility. The
sensory system's task is to locate the vehicle position within the grove and then the
fruit position relative to the robot. These sensory data will be used to move the robot
through the grove and localize fruit position for harvesting. In some cases, fruit posi-
tion maps may be created so that harvesting motions can be optimized for speed and
energy consumption. The manipulator's tasks, which can take on many different con-
figurations, is to move the harvesting end-effector into position to harvest the fruit.
Once the robot platform is in harvesting position, the sensory suite will assist the
manipulator through visual servo control to the final position where the fruit is within
the grasp of the end effector. The sensory suite may consist of machine vision cam-
eras (stereo or monocular), laser, ultrasonic, or infrared range sensors, other proximity
or tactile devices, GPSs, and ladar (laser detection and ranging). There are numer-
ous end effector approaches that have been implemented, each with its own unique
characteristics. Once the fruit has been harvested, the fruit is transported through
internal conveyance to either an on-board containerization system that fills and then
offloads field boxes, or to a cross conveyor that offloads the fruit to a trailing transport
vehicle. In either case, road siding vehicles move the harvested fruit from the point
