Design and Testing of Cableless Pneumatic Apple Picker with Single Actuator

ZHAO Yunwei, ZHAO Wenwei, LIU Zheng, WEI Heng, LIU Xiaomin

Abstract

Aiming to enable automated apple picking, a single-drive cableless pneumatic apple picker with a simple structure that can be portable and mounted on an automated picking device was proposed. The apple picker was driven directly by a micro-pump with three arc-shaped fingers symmetrically distributed in the center and driven by a single linear pneumatic flexible actuator. The picker fingers were normally closed, and opened when air pressure was applied, and passively retracted to grasp the apple after the pressure was released. Based on the characteristic parameters of apples in the Jilin region, the design and size parameters of key components of the cableless pneumatic apple picker were determined, and an integrated cable-free picking system was designed. Based on the deformations and mechanical properties of the flexible actuator, a kinematic and gripping force model of the apple picker was created to evaluate the functionality of the apple picker. The results showed that the pneumatic apple picker opened and closed quickly with gripping force and opening angle that met the target apple picking requirements. Using an arm-like mobile robot, apple-picking experiments were conducted in the laboratory and in the orchard. Experimental results demonstrated that the pneumatic apple picker was able to safely and steadily grasp apples throughout the picking process with an 84.9% success rate, which was capable of performing apple picking operations in complex orchard environments.

 

Keywords:apple;apple picker;single-actuator;cableless;pneumatic

 

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References


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