Development of End-Effector for Harvesting Tomato Using Suction and Cutting Mechanism

Abstract

In recent years, the introduction of robot technology to the primary industry is very important, and introduction to the agricultural field is also expected. Among them, tomatoes have a long harvesting work time and high labor load. Therefore, automation of harvesting by robots is desired. In this research, we are targeting tomato production facilities with large-scale infrastructure. We are developing tomato harvesting robot aiming at practical application at Hibikinada Greenfarm Co., Ltd.. In this paper, we focused on end effector for harvesting tomato. When harvesting tomatoes, it need to have a stem end. In the previous study, it was pluck a tomato from a stem, but stem end took off from tomatoes. In order to harvest a tomato from cluster with stem end, we developed an end effector using suction mechanism and cutting mechanism.