SBIR Phase I: Orchestration of Multiple Robotic Subsystems into a Commercially Viable Robotic Strawberry Harvesting System

这个项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将解决在移民劳动力稀缺且工作不受欢迎的环境中使用自动化在美国收获草莓的能力。该项目借鉴了许多其他大批量制造/生产行业已经使用和改进的技术和方法，并将适用的想法应用于用自动化机器收获粮食作物。大数据方法也正在与获取技术结合起来开发，这些技术将通过关于未来产量的预测信息来帮助作物生长，并帮助监测与疾病和虫害有关的植物健康。正在开发的商业模式通过向农民提供预期的机器作为服务来取代他们的劳动力，从而帮助将这项技术应用到农业社区，而不需要农民有大量的资本支出。因此，启动这项服务对农民来说将是一个很容易做出的决定，并将有助于为未来的收获模式和技术建立标准。这个小企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目正在开发能够完成一些最劳动密集型和精致水果的机器人收获的技术和想法。利用特殊的机器视觉技术，能够以有利于商业收获的速度同时检测、破译和定位水果。此外，独特的机械技术将使水果的收获不会有任何损伤。目标包括试验将导致更一致的水果包装和技术，以增加水果采摘后货架期的想法。以前在这些领域的大多数研究都集中在能够用机器采摘水果，而不是太多地研究以商业速度采摘水果的能力。丰收乌鸦系统的全部目的是快速获取植物下的果实，然后能够将其打包并带出田地。到目前为止，许多项目都没有拨款将果实从地里移走。丰收公司的Croo系统将为此建立标准。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will address the ability to use automation to harvest strawberries in the United States in an environment where migrant labor is scarce and the work is undesirable. The project is borrowing techniques and methods that have been used and refined in many other high volume manufacturing/production industries and applying the applicable ideas to harvesting food crops with automated machines. Big data methods are also being developed in conjunction with the acquisition techniques that will assist crop growing with predictive information about future yields and help with monitoring plant health in relation to disease and pest infestation. The business model being developed helps the adoption of the technology into the farming community by not requiring the farmers to have large capital outlays by providing the anticipated machines to the farmers as a service to replace their labor. The initiation of the service will therefore be an easy decision for a farmer to make and will be helpful in establishing the standard for future harvesting models and techniques.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is developing techniques and ideas to be able to accomplish the robotic harvesting of some of the most labor intensive and delicate fruit. Special machine vision techniques are being utilized to be able to simultaneously detect, decipher and target the fruit at a speeds conducive to commercial harvesting. Also, unique machine techniques that will enable the harvesting of the fruit without bruising. Objectives include experimenting with ideas that will lead to more consistent fruit packing and techniques to increase fruit shelf life after picking. Most prior research in these areas focused on being able to pick the fruit with machines and not so much on the ability to do it at commercial speeds. The entire purpose of the systems of the Harvest CROO is to rapidly acquire the fruit under the plants and then be able to pack and carry it out of the fields. Many of the projects until this point had no allotment for removing the fruit from the fields. The Harvest CROO system will establish standards for this.