Vision guided AI-enabled Robotic Apple Harvester

• Project Investigator : Dr.Hena Ray
• Project Lead  : Ravi Sankar

Indian Institute of Technology,Kharagpur, India

• Dr. Peeyush Soni(Co-PI-IIT)
• Dr. Rajendra Machavaram(PI-IIT)

 

Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology ( SKUAST-K)Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir,India

• Dr. Syed Zameer Hussain(PI-SKUAST)
• Dr. Mushtaq Ahamed(Co-PI-SKUAST)

 

ICAR - Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering & Technology (CIPHET)Hambran Road, PAU, Ludhiana ,Punjab, India

• Er. Shaghaf Kaukab(PI-CIPHET)
• Dr. K. Narsaiah(Co-PI-CIPHET)
• Dr. Bhupendra M Ghodki(Co-PI-CIPHET)

Commercially the most important temperate fruit is Apple (Malus pumila). It is fourth among the most widely produced fruits globally after banana, orange and grape. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland are the leading cultivators in India. These two States accounted for 76% of the area and 94% of the crop production in the country. Excessive rains and fog near the fruit maturity period result in poor fruit quality with improper colour development and fungal spots on its surface. The level of productivity varies from elevation to elevation. The production stage extends up to forty years, depending upon agro-climatic conditions. The highly unstructured orchard environment has proven very challenging for existing technology. Some of the numerous environmental challenges include dynamic outdoor conditions, complex tree structures, delicate products, and variable fruit shapes and sizes. Commercial implementation of robotic apple harvesting systems requires performance improvements in both speed and robustness.Agricultural field operations in Orchards face several challenges. Specifically, the two significant challenges for harvesting apples are (1) reduced farm workers and (2) increased cost of fruit harvesting. Therefore, increasing farm productivity and reducing the drudgery of farm workers are necessary for the present scenario. Recently, the automaton of agricultural operations using robots, drones, and autonomous vehicles has been dramatically emphasized due to the advancements in Artificial Intelligence.

The major objectives of this proposed project are:

• A custom six degree of freedom manipulator of adjustable height controlled by hydraulic or electric power mounted on a four-wheeled human operated platform.
• Multi-sensory gripper equipped with a vacuum suction pad device (suction pump and motor) for spherical fruit gripping and support.

The perceived significant outcomes are:

• Mechanical harvester
• AI-based Machine Vision algorithm for fruit harvester