SBIR Phase I: Harvesting strawberry using delta robots

这一第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是加强对草莓等高价值作物选择性收获的科学和技术理解。这里提出的创新将是创建紧凑、经济可行的自主草莓收获机器人的关键组成部分。该项目开发的技术将有助于解决农民每年越来越多地经历的农业劳动力短缺问题。到2026年，农业机器人市场预计将达到119亿美元。提供自主收获机器人将使农民能够种植更多的作物，减少与体力劳动力短缺相关的商业风险，并将确保美国农民保持竞争力，同时创造更多熟练、高薪的工作岗位。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将开发关键技术，以具有竞争力的速度精细地选择性收获草莓等脆弱作物。计算机视觉目标检测和三维场景重建的最新进展将用于创建接近实时的操作场景。这些场景将被用来检测成熟的浆果，创建一条移动路径，并导航快速而精确的机械臂来收获浆果，而不会损坏水果，同时避免障碍物。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Phase I project is to enhance scientific and technological understanding in selective harvesting of high-value crops such as strawberry. The innovation proposed here will be a key component in creating a compact economically viable autonomous strawberry harvesting robot. The technology developed in this project will help address the farming labor shortage which is experienced by farmers more and more each year. Agricultural robotics market is estimated to be $11.9 billion by 2026. Providing autonomous harvesting robots will enable farmers to grow more crops with less business risks related to manual labor shortages and will ensure that US farmers remain competitive, while creating more skilled, highly paid jobs.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop critical technologies for delicate selective harvesting of fragile crops such as strawberries at a competitive pace. Recent advancements in computer vision object detection and three-dimensional scene reconstruction will be used to create near real-time operational scenes. Those scenes will be used to detect ripe berries, create a movement path and navigate the fast and precise robot arm for harvesting the berries without damaging fruits while avoiding obstacles.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.