Soft gripper for small fruits harvesting and pick and place operations

Agriculture 4.0 presents several challenges for the automation of various operations, including the fundamental task of harvesting. One of the crucial aspects in the automatic harvesting of high value crops is the grip and detachment of delicate fruits without spoiling them or interfering with the e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in robotics and AI 2024-01, Vol.10, p.1330496-1330496
Main Authors: Navas, Eduardo, Shamshiri, Redmond R, Dworak, Volker, Weltzien, Cornelia, Fernández, Roemi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3D printing
agriculture 4.0
fruit harvesting
grasping
gripper
robotic device
Robotics and AI
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Summary:Agriculture 4.0 presents several challenges for the automation of various operations, including the fundamental task of harvesting. One of the crucial aspects in the automatic harvesting of high value crops is the grip and detachment of delicate fruits without spoiling them or interfering with the environment. Soft robotic systems, particularly soft grippers, offer a promising solution for this problem, as they can operate in unstructured environments, manipulate objects delicately, and interact safely with humans. In this context, this article presents a soft gripper design for harvesting as well as for pick-and-place operations of small and medium-sized fruits. The gripper is fabricated using the 3D printing technology with a flexible thermoplastic elastomer filament. This approach enables the production of an economical, compact, easily replicable, and interchangeable gripper by utilizing soft robotics principles, such as flexible structures and pneumatic actuation.
ISSN:2296-9144
2296-9144
DOI:10.3389/frobt.2023.1330496