Development of a Robotic Harvesting System for Tomato Clusters with Low-Node-Order Pinching and High-Density Planting (Part 2)

—Collecting Robot and Storage Device for Tomato Clusters—

Abstract

We developed a collecting robot and a storage device for tomato clusters. The collecting robot receives a tomato cluster as it is unloaded from the conveyor of a harvesting robot. When the conveyor of the collecting robot is filled with tomato clusters, the robot proceeds to the shipping room. Next, the tomato clusters on the conveyor of the collecting robot are unloaded on the conveyor of the storage device. In our experiment, the collecting robot could collect and unload the fruits without committing a fault. In addition, the processes of collecting, transportation, and unloading caused no damage to the tomatoes. However, to operate the harvesting system efficiently in a large-scale greenhouse, it is necessary to use multiple collecting robots.