pte20210602019 Products / Innovations, Technology / Digitization
The innovative Penn State prototype is controlled by an image processing system
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Prototype of Penn State’s new mushroom harvesting robot (Photo: psu.edu) |
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State College (pte019 / 06/02/2021 / 12:30) – Researcher at the College of Agricultural Sciences at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) http://psu.edu have developed a mushroom picking robot that is controlled by an image processing system. This recognizes mushrooms that are ready to be harvested and controls a suction cup and a knife in such a way that the mushrooms are precisely picked up and placed in a collecting container.
Four-axis movement
The robot’s “hands” can move in four axes so that they can cope with mushrooms that are not yet fully grown. A small suction bell acts as a gripper, the force of which is just enough to hold the umbrella in place. It must not be too big in order not to damage the fungus. The researchers have determined the correct force in numerous experiments.
In the first pass, the robot managed to harvest 90 percent of the ripe mushrooms. After a second scan, it was almost 95 percent. So far, Penn State Assistant Professor Long He has built a prototype that reliably harvests mushrooms that grow in planters without causing damage. It was a complex undertaking. Human pickers grab the umbrella with three fingers, cut it off with a knife they hold in the other hand and put it in a collecting container. The robot had to understand that.
Automation as a goal
US citizens consume around 400,000 tons of mushrooms a year (Germany: 160,000 tons). Two thirds of this is grown in Pennsylvania. “Growers struggle to find workers to harvest, a very labor-intensive and difficult task, so an automated harvesting system like the one we are working on would be of great help,” explains He. In addition, wage costs are very high at 15 to 30 percent.
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