Fruit Phantoms for Robotic Harvesting Trials—Mango Example

Abstract

Experimental trials on the performance of end-effectors for the automated harvest of soft fruit are constrained by seasonal limitations on fruit availability and fruit perishability, necessitating the use of different sets of fruit across time. Consequently, the use of fruit and stalk phantoms, rather than real fruit, is an attractive proposition. In this paper, a process for the cost-effective production of stable fruit phantoms using silicone (polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) and starch was presented. A preliminary consideration was also presented for the creation of a phantom fruit stalk, involving a wooden dowel or a magnetic latching. Mango fruit phantoms were benchmarked to mango fruit in terms of density, firmness, brittleness, etc.