10 accepted papers
We present and evaluate a novel suction-based gripper designed for fruit picking. This work is motivated by common problems observed in field trials of robotic harvesting: Calibration/perception errors, workspace obstacles, fruit swinging/moving when contacted, and varying stem and branch stiffnesse…
Underwater vehicle manipulator systems (UVMS) are increasingly popular platforms for performing subsea operations that require precision manipulation. While there is high demand for fully autonomous or even semi-autonomous systems, most UVMS still require human support teams. Developing new hardware…
Machine vision is a critical subsystem for enabling robots to be able to perform a variety of tasks in orchard environments. However, orchards are highly visually complex environments, and computer vision algorithms operating in them must be able to contend with variable lighting conditions and back…
Robotic tree pruning requires highly precise manipulator control in order to accurately align a cutting implement with the desired pruning point at the correct angle. Simultaneously, the robot must avoid applying excessive force to rigid parts of the environment such as trees, support posts, and wir…
Apple picking is a challenging manipulation task, but it is difficult to test solutions due to the limited window of time that apples are in season. Previous methods have built simulations of apple trees, but simulations rarely capture soft contact and deformation well, both of which are common in f…
Studies have shown that picking techniques play an important role in determining fruit quality at harvest (e.g. bruising, stem retention, etc). When picking fruit such as apples and pears, professional pickers use active perception, incorporating both visual and tactile input about fruit orientation…
Soft robotics promises developments in the research areas of safety, bio-mimicry, manipulation, human-robot interaction, and alternative locomotion techniques. The research presented here is directed towards developing an improved, low-cost, and open-source method for soft robotic control using elec…
Dormant pruning is a major cost component of fresh market tree fruit production, nearly equal in scale to harvesting the fruit. However, relatively little focus has been given to the problem of pruning trees autonomously. In this paper, we introduce a robotic system consisting of an industrial manip…
In much of the world, sugarcane is planted in a mechanized fashion using billets, which are shorter segments of cane harvested and cut by a combine harvester. The mechanized harvesting process can damage billets, which introduces pathways for disease, and overall reduction of billet quality. Compare
There are no mechanical harvesters for the fresh market apple industry commercially available. The absence of automated harvesting technology is a critical problem because of rising production costs and increasing uncertainty about future labor availability. This paper presents the preliminary desig…