Development of an Autonomous Multifunctional Fruits Harvester

Abstract

There is global shortage of food production due to inadequate workforce, to carry out crop production. This study strived to develop an autonomous system, which can harvest more than one type of crop with high accuracy to improve effectiveness, and minimized production and operational costs. To minimize the mechanical damage done to the fruits during the harvesting and handling operations, the system combined the mechanical properties and optical properties of the fruits during operation. Sensor was attached to the fruits collection container system to prevent overloading of the container, hence protecting the fruits from mechanical stresses. Results obtained for the laboratory trial revealed that the prototype robotic system had a higher performance (about 90%) when tested with pepper fruits, when compared with the performance rating (about 85%) recorded with eggplant fruits. It was also observed from the laboratory trials that the robotic system aborted the harvesting operation, whenever the weight of the fruits collection container exceeded the preset maximum permissible weight. The relatively high success rates recorded from the prototype results signified significant improvement in the development of autonomous multipurpose harvesters, using advanced technologies and robust data to produce a commercially viable automated fruits harvester.