2007 Volume 69 Issue 5 Pages 70-77
We examined a cotyledon-orienting mechanism to develop an automatic seedling-feeding device for a semi-automatic grafting robot for cucurbitaceous vegetables. We subsequently manufactured three prototype cotyledon-orienting devices, a non-contact system that uses lasers, a contact system that uses a fixed fiat plate as the guide, and a combination of both systems. Accuracy tests were conducted by feeding pumpkin stocks. In the non-contact or contact system, we judged that it was difficult to achieve the accuracy (±35° from the specified direction) required for the cotyledon-orienting mechanism using the non-contact or contact system alone, as we proved in our first report. However, we successfully oriented cotyledons within 30° for the target direction by two-step processing of seedlings that combined both contact and non-contact systems.
