Studies on Robotics for Biotechnological Operations (Part 2)

Intelligent Robot for Transplanting Calluses in Subculture

Abstract

An intelligent robotic system which could perform biotechnological operations in plant callus subculture stage was developed and tested. Operations of getting callus images through a TV camera, processing image data to recognize their shapes and to calculate centroids, cutting and dividing them, grasping and carrying a piece of them, and putting it on culture medium in a Petri dish were automatically and intelligently carried out by the robotic system under the computer control.
Control algorithm for the system was optimized and image data processing was done speedily through three areas separated in an image data frame. Noises on image frames were cut off and cleared by a program of software filter. Two devices, cutter and hand for calluses, were attached on a tool plane of the robot manipulator and two kinds of operation were carried out one after another. In this system, it took about eighty seconds to complete a series of handling operation from cutting a callus into two pieces to putting them into Petri dishes.