夹持器
经济短缺
执行机构
气动执行机构
机器人
机械工程
材料科学
工程类
计算机科学
电气工程
人工智能
语言学
哲学
政府(语言学)
作者
Hashan N. B. Ranasinghe,Chamith Kawshan,Sasheeka Himaruwan,Asitha L. Kulasekera,P. Dassanayake
标识
DOI:10.1109/mercon55799.2022.9906289
摘要
Strawberry is a delicate fruit that has substantial economic value. Strawberries can be easily damaged during harvesting due to their soft nature. Therefore, strawberry harvesting requires skilled labourers who can gently yet effectively handle this soft fruit. There is a skilled labour shortage for strawberry harvesting, so automating this process would benefit strawberry farmers. Here we present a novel soft gripper design to minimize strawberry damage during harvesting. The proposed gripper comprises two doughnut-shaped single chamber pneumatic actu- ators inspired by biological Sphincters. The proposed balloon-type actuator is fabricated from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) coated fabric by thermal sealing. The blocked force performance of this balloon-type actuator and the holding force of the doughnut-shaped gripper is experimentally evaluated. The balloon-type actuator can apply 19.3 N at 40 kPa when displaced by 20 mm. The developed soft gripper can apply a holding force of 14.8 N at 40 kPa. Preliminary field testing was conducted to validate the applicability of the proposed soft gripper for strawberry harvesting. The field test showed 100% success in harvesting with 85 % success without any damage (n = 7). This shows the potential of the proposed soft gripper in reducing fruit damage during strawberry harvesting.
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