JPH0585128B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a capturing position in which a vacuum pad that sucks fruits and vegetables to be harvested protrudes toward the front side of the hand with its suction port facing the front side of the hand. and a handle cutting position retracted toward the rear of the hand, a cutter is provided for cutting the handle of fruits and vegetables adsorbed to the vacuum pad, and a cover body is provided to cover the outer periphery of the hand. The present invention relates to a hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables, in which a passage opening is formed at a portion of the cover body facing the suction opening of the vacuum pad.

[Conventional technology]

Such a hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables captures fruits and vegetables with the bagiyum pad protruding toward the front side of the hand from the passage opening of the cover body, and then the bagiyum pad is relatively retreated to the rear side of the hand and stored in the cover body. , the handle is moved to a position for cutting the handle with the cutter.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

By the way, fruit vegetables such as mandarin oranges, apples, and tomatoes are often lined up in a plurality in close contact with each other.
For this reason, when cutting the handle with a cutter, it is necessary to make the passage opening large enough to allow only one fruit and vegetable to pass through, so that other fruits and vegetables do not fall into the cover together. be.

However, if the passage opening is narrow like this,
If the fruits and vegetables caught by the bagumination pad are large or the suction area is shifted from the normal position, the fruits and vegetables will be pulled against the edge of the passage opening when the bagumination pad is moved back to the back of the hand and stored inside the cover body. There is a risk that it may get stuck and fall off.

The present invention has focused on these points, and aims to ensure that fruits and vegetables captured by the vacuum pad can be reliably stored inside the cover body while keeping the passage opening narrow.

[Means for solving problems]

The characteristic configuration of the present invention is that the front end of the cover body is divided in the circumferential direction, and the front ends are configured to be elastically retractable and swingable to the outside of the passage opening,
Its actions and effects are as follows.

[Effect]

In other words, capture fruits and vegetables with Bakyum Patsud,
Even if fruits and vegetables come into contact with the edge of the passage opening when the hand is moved back and placed inside the cover body,
The front end of the divided cover body, which corresponds to the contact point, is biased as the fruits and vegetables retreat, and is elastically swung to the outside of the passage opening.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Even if the fruits and vegetables captured by the vacuum pad are large or the adsorbed area is shifted from the normal position, the fruits and vegetables can now be reliably stored in the cover body.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 4, a boom 1 is attached to a vehicle body 2 so as to be able to rise and fall and turn freely, an auxiliary boom 3 is attached to the boom 1 so as to be able to swing freely in the horizontal direction, and a work hand H for fruit harvesting is provided. A working manipulator 4 is attached to the tip of the auxiliary boom 3 to constitute a working machine for fruit harvesting.
In the figure, 5 is a hydraulic cylinder for raising and lowering the boom, 6 is an electric motor for swinging the boom, 7 is an electric motor for swinging the auxiliary boom, and K is a box for storing the harvested fruit.

The working manipulator 4 includes a multi-jointed telescopic arm 8 and a working hand H attached to the distal end of the telescopic arm 8. The telescoping arm 8 is rotated around the vertical axis X by the electric motor 9a, and swung around the horizontal axis Y by the electric motor 9b.
It is configured to be expanded and contracted at c.

To explain the working hand H, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a vacuum pad 10 made of soft rubber is externally fitted onto the tip of the ventilation pipe 11 with its suction port facing the front side of the hand. A branch pipe 12 for ventilation is provided at the base of the ventilation pipe 11, and a telescopic bellows type hose 13 is connected to the branch pipe 12. , is bolted to the tip of the telescopic arm 8. However, the bellows type hose 13 is connected to an intake pump 14 as shown in FIG.

Further, a stalk cutting device for cutting the stalk, or so-called stalk, of the fruit captured while being attracted to the vacuum pad 10, and a trapping part case 15 are provided.

To explain the trapping part case 15, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, it includes a proximal end portion 15a that is externally supported on the vent pipe 11 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction of the hand, and an upper portion on the distal side thereof. an upper cover portion 15b fixed to the base end portion 15a;
The lower cover portion 15c is fixed to the lower part of the tip side of the
An air cylinder 16 for sliding the capture part case 15 in and out is interposed between the base end portion 15a and the branch pipe 12. Thus, the structure can be freely switched between a state in which the suction port of the vacuum pad 10 is located on the front side of the trapping part case 15 and a state in which the fruit sucked by the vacuum pad 10 is taken into the inside of the trapping part case 15. It has been done.

To explain the upper cover part 15b and the lower cover part 15c, they are formed into a hemispherical shape so as to cover the outer periphery of the hand, and a piece of fruit is placed in the part facing the suction port of the vacuum pad 10. The fruit passage opening 26 is large enough to allow the fruit to pass through. Further, the front end portion of the upper cover portion 15b adjacent to the opening 26 is divided in the circumferential direction to form a slit-like groove 27 through which the fruit stalk is inserted, so that the fruit can be harvested as described later. At this time, only the fruits to be harvested that have been adsorbed by the vacuum pad 10 can be taken into the trapping part case 15, and the handle can be smoothly moved when taking them in (see Fig. 8). reference).

Further, each protrusion 15d of the divided upper cover portion 15b has a pivot structure at its base end portion, so that it can swing freely in and out, and a spring 42 is attached to the base end portion, so that each protrusion 15d is supported. Opening 2
It is biased toward the 6th side. When the fruit to be harvested that has been adsorbed by the vacuum pad 10 is stored in the trap case 15, the fruit is removed by the protrusion 15d.
When the protrusion 15d comes into contact with the front end of the fruit, the protrusion 15d is biased as the fruit retreats, and is elastically retracted and swung outward from the opening 26. In short, even if the fruit sucked by the vacuum pad 10 is large or deformed, or the sucked part is deviated from the normal position and comes into contact with the front end of the protrusion 15d, the fruit can absorb the impact and at the same time Enlarge the opening 26 and make the fruit 1
0 without detaching from the trapping part case 15.
It is designed to be able to be taken inside. (See Figure 9).

Further, an opening is formed at the lower rear side of the lower cover portion 15b for discharging the fruit with the handle cut off and held in the trapping part case 15, and an opening is formed for discharging the fruit downward. The shutter 29 is fixed to the lower part of the proximal end portion 15a of the capture portion case 15 so as to be openable and closable by an air cylinder 30 for opening and closing.

To explain the handle cutting device, as shown in FIG. 1, the clipper-type cutter 17 is shaped like a strip and has a semi-circular arc, and the handle support member 18 is shaped like a strip and has a semi-circular arc. The cutter 17 and the handle support member 18 are pivotally connected to the proximal end portion 15a of the capture portion case 15 so as to be swingable around the horizontal axis, and the cutter 17 and the handle support member 18 are each
A state in which the handle of the fruit captured in the trapping part case 15 is projected toward the front side of the hand so as to be supported between them, and a state in which it is retracted toward the rear side of the hand to form a passage for introducing the fruit between them. It is designed to be able to swing in and out so that it can be switched.

An electric motor 19 for swinging the cutter 17 and the handle support member 18, and an air cylinder 20 for driving the slide of the cutter 17 are provided.
Accordingly, as the cutter 17 swings toward the protruding side, that is, stands up, the handle is supported between the cutter 17 and the handle support member 18, and the supported handle is cut by the sliding action of the cutter 17. (See Figure 8).

However, the cutter 17 and handle support member 18 are
The cutter 17 and the handle support member 1 are interlocked and connected to the electric motor 19 via a differential mechanism 21.
8 comes into contact with the handle first, the cutter 17 or handle support member 18 that came into contact first
The handle support member 18 or the cutter 17 on the other side can continue to be raised while the raising operation is stopped. In other words, the protruding positions of the cutter 17 and the handle support member 18 can be automatically changed in accordance with the position of the handle of the captured fruit.

Further, as will be described later, various sensors are provided for controlling the operation of each part of the work hand H.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a negative pressure sensor S ₁ is attached to the upper part of the branch pipe 12 to detect when fruit is adsorbed to the vacuum pad 11.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a light reflection type proximity sensor S ₂ detects when the work hand H, that is, the vacuum pad 10 approaches the fruit to be harvested within a set distance, and the fruit to be harvested. An image sensor S ₃ as a visual device for detecting the direction in which the fruit is located is provided inside the vacuum pad 10 with its detection direction facing the front side of the suction port of the vacuum pad 10, and the upper cover portion 15b is provided. A strobe device 28 that emits light at a set amount of light in synchronization with the imaging processing by the image sensor _S3 is provided at the rear of the camera, so that imaging processing can be performed with an appropriate amount of light regardless of the surrounding brightness.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a potentiometer _S4 for detecting the swinging positions of the cutter 17 and the handle support member 18 is operatively connected to the differential mechanism 21. 17 and handle support member 1
8, the completion of the standing up operation and the completion of the retiring operation can be detected.

To explain the proximity sensor _S2 , a sensor main body 22 that houses a light emitting part, a light receiving part, a signal processing part therefor, etc. is held at the rear upper part of the branch pipe 12, and a projection drawn out from the sensor main body 22 is held at the rear upper part of the branch pipe 12. An optical fiber 23 for light reception is extended into the inside of the vacuum pad 10 through the inside of the branch pipe 12 and the ventilation pipe 11, and
The extending end of the optical fiber 23, which serves as the detection surface of the proximity sensor _S2 , is attached to the top of the image sensor _S3 with the holder 24 for supporting the image sensor _S3 facing the front side of the hand. I support it.

Next, the harvesting work hand H is automatically made to approach the fruit to be harvested, and
The configuration of the control means for cutting the stalks of the captured fruits and harvesting them will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 5, an image processing means for determining the direction in which the fruit to be harvested is located based on the imaging information from the image sensor _S3 , and a guiding means for guiding the work hand H toward the fruit to be harvested. ,
In addition, a control device 3 constitutes a harvesting operation control means etc. that controls the operation of each part in order to cut and harvest the stalk of the fruit caught in the trapping part case 15.
2 is provided. That is, in the control device 32,
Imaging information from the image sensor _S3 , detection information from the negative pressure sensor _S1 and proximity sensor _S2 , and detection information from the potentiometer _S4 are input.

Based on these information and previously stored information, the controller 33 for driving the cylinder 5 for raising and lowering the boom, the controller 34 for driving the boom turning motor 6, and the driving controller 34 for driving the auxiliary boom swinging motor 7 controller 35 for driving the electric motors 9a, 9b, 9c of the telescoping arm 8, controllers 36a, 36b, 36c for driving the electric motors 9a, 9b, 9c of the telescopic arm 8, air cylinder 1 for operating the trapping part case 15 in and out.
6, a control valve 38 for the air cylinder 20 for operating the cutter 17, a controller 39 for driving the electric motor 19 for raising and lowering the cutter 17 and handle support member 18, and a controller 39 for controlling the suction operation of the vacuum pad 10. An operation command is output to each of the control valve 40, the control valve 41 for the air cylinder 30 for opening and closing the shutter 29, the image sensor _S3 , and the strobe device 28 to detect the direction in which the fruit to be harvested is located. In addition, it is configured to automatically cause the work hand H to approach the fruit to be harvested, to harvest the fruit, and to discharge the harvested fruit at a predetermined position. be.

However, the imaging field of view of the image sensor S ₃ is limited to the movement of the vehicle body 2, the rotation and elevation of the boom 1,
Setting is performed by changing the direction of the work hand H, that is, the vacuum pad 10, by horizontally swinging the auxiliary boom 3, and by pivoting or swinging the telescopic arm 8 relative to the auxiliary boom 3 back and forth.

Next, the operation of the control device 32 will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B.

First, the vacuum pad 10 is set at a preset initial position and facing the direction of a predetermined range where the fruits to be harvested are located, and then the strobe device 28 is turned on to display the image. Image processing is performed using sensor _S3 . Next, the captured image information is taken in and image processing is performed to remove the background such as branches and leaves and extract image information corresponding only to the target fruit, thereby determining the direction in which the target fruit is located.

To explain the image processing that removes the background such as branches and leaves and extracts image information corresponding only to the target fruit, the image information captured by the image sensor S ₃ (see Fig. 7 A) is converted into the color of the fruit. By binarizing based on the
By extracting F ₀ and finding the position of the center of gravity P ₀ of the area F ₀ , the direction in which the fruit to be harvested is located can be determined.
This is determined based on the coordinate values on the image where the center of gravity P ₀ is located (see FIG. 7B).

Next, since the position of the vacuum pad 10 in the determined direction, that is, the approach start position, and the center of the imaging field of view of the image sensor _S3 match, the vacuum pad ₁₀ is The work hand H is approached in a state of moving at high speed toward the direction in which the fruit to be harvested is located while maintaining the state in which the suction port 10 is directed toward the direction in which the center of gravity P ₀ is located, that is, toward the fruit to be harvested.

However, if a plurality of fruits to be harvested are recognized from the image information captured by the image sensor S ₃ , during the image capturing process by the image sensor S ₃ ,
Since the strobe device 28 is made to emit light, objects that are closer to each other will appear brighter.
Based on the difference in average brightness of each area F ₀ corresponding only to the color of the fruit, the brighter one is approached first, or the lower one is approached first, The approach order will be set. In other words, the closer to the vacuum pad 10 or the easier it is to capture the harvest, the earlier it will be harvested.

Then, after starting the approach, the proximity sensor
Upon detecting that S ₂ has approached the fruit to be harvested within a set distance, the operation of the telescoping arm 8 is stopped and the approach of the work hand H is temporarily stopped. is moved back a predetermined distance (in this embodiment, it is set to approximately 200 mm) to prevent the amount of light received by the image sensor S ₃ from becoming saturated and to prevent the amount of light from changing with respect to the imaging distance. Based on the retraction distance and the working distance of the proximity sensor _S2 , such that
While reducing the light intensity of the strobe device 28 to a preset light intensity and re-emitting light, re-imaging processing is performed (see FIG. 8A).

However, if the proximity sensor _S2 does not operate even if the approach distance exceeds the set value corresponding to the position where the telescoping arm 8 is extended to its maximum extension position, it is determined that harvesting is not possible, and the above-mentioned The telescopic arm 8 is shortened and the work hand H is returned to the approach starting position.

Then, by processing the re-imaged image information again, one region F ₀ corresponding only to the color of the fruit is re-extracted, and within the re-extracted region F ₀ , the brightest The visible highlight portion P ₁ (see Figure 7 C) is extracted, the approach direction is corrected so that the vacuum pad 10 approaches the highlight portion, and the proximity sensor S ₂ is turned ON again. Restart the approach while moving at low speed.

However, if there are multiple highlighted portions P ₁ within the re-extracted area F ₀ , (indicated by broken lines in Figure 7), it is assumed that multiple fruits grow adjacent to each other in a plane. One highlight area is determined so that it approaches the object located in a preset direction, for example, to the left or below.
Only P ₁ will be selected. Note that when a plurality of fruits grow adjacent to each other in the front-back direction, the amount of light reflected by the strobe device 28 is larger from the fruit located at the front than from the fruit located at the rear. , the position information for the fruit located on the rear side is automatically removed, and even if multiple fruits are adjacent, only one highlighted portion _P1 is extracted, and the work hand H is On the other hand, only the position corresponding to one fruit located on the near side will be automatically extracted.

When the proximity sensor _S2 is turned on again, the suction operation of the vacuum pad 10 is started, and the work hand H is moved forward at a low speed.

After the suction operation of the vacuum pad 10 starts, the work hand H is moved forward by a set distance (for example, a distance corresponding to the operating distance of the proximity sensor _S2 ) toward the fruit to be harvested (see FIG. 8B), and the Based on the detection information of the pressure sensor _S1 , it is determined whether or not the fruit has been suctioned. If the fruit has been suctioned as desired, the vacuum pad 10 is stopped, and at the same time, the trapping part case 15 is moved forward. The fruit to be harvested is taken into the trap case 15 by protruding to the side so that the fruit is located within the operating range of the stalk cutting device (see FIG. 8C).

However, if the negative pressure sensor S ₁ does not operate,
Determining that it is impossible to harvest, the trapping part case 1
5 to the rear, the suction operation of the vacuum pad 10 is stopped, the telescoping arm 8 is shortened, and the work hand H is returned to the approach starting position.

After the fruit is taken into the catcher case 15, the motor 19 for raising and lowering is driven in normal rotation to raise the cutter 17 and handle support member 18 forward. Then, based on the information detected by the potentiometer _S4 , the rising operation is temporarily stopped at an intermediate position on the front side of the rising operation completion position, and the vacuum pad 1
Stop the suction operation of 0, and move the entire work hand H.
By retreating a set distance toward the front and lower side of the fruit, the length of the handle to be cut by the cutter 17 is adjusted so that the cutter 17 comes into contact with the captured fruit. The position of the handle relative to the cutter 17 is corrected so that the length is as short as possible (see FIG. 8D).

Thereafter, based on the information detected by the potentiometer S ₄ , the cutter 17 and the handle support member 18 are continuously operated to stand up forward until the raising operation is completed, and the handle of the fruit is moved from the cutter 1 to the front side.
7 and the handle support member 18, and cut the handle with the cutter 17 (8th
(See Figure E).

However, the cutter 17 and handle support member 18 are
If it cannot be detected that the standing operation has reached that position even after the set time required to reach the completion position or the intermediate position has elapsed, it is determined that it is impossible to harvest, and the operation is performed based on the information detected by the potentiometer _S4 . Then, the cutter 17 and the handle support member 18 are
At the same time, the catching part case 15 is retired to the rear side of the hand H, and the suction port of the vacuum pad 10 projects to the front side of the opening 26 of the catching part case 15. After returning to the initial position, the telescopic arm 8 is shortened and returned to the approach starting position.

After cutting the handle, while maintaining the state in which the fruit is held in the trapping part case 15, the telescoping arm 8 is shortened, the working hand H is returned to a predetermined position, and the shutter 29 is lowered. By opening the fruit toward the vehicle body 2, the harvested fruits are discharged into the storage box K placed on the side of the vehicle body 2.

After the harvested fruit is discharged, the cutter 17 and the handle support member 18 are retracted rearward to the retracting completion position based on the information detected by the potentiometer _S4 , and the catcher case 15 is Retire the hand H to the rear side and return it to the initial position where the suction port of the vacuum pad 10 projects to the front side of the opening 26 of the trapping part case 15, and finish the harvesting operation for one fruit. do.

[Another example]

To carry out the present invention, as shown in FIG.
When the protrusion 15d is made of a spring material and a freely rotating guide roller 43 is provided at the tip thereof, the contact resistance between the fruit and the protrusion 15d is reduced, so that the fruit can be taken into the trap case 15 more reliably. Become.
Note that the configuration of each part, such as the specific configuration of the working hand H and the specific configuration of the telescoping arm 8 provided for guiding the working hand H toward the harvesting target, can be changed in various ways.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case of harvesting fruits was illustrated, but the present invention can also be applied to harvesting of vegetables such as tomatoes. Further, the present invention can be applied to works other than harvesting work, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

Note that although reference numerals are written in the claims section for convenience of reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in the accompanying drawings.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view of the working hand;
Figure 2 is a cutaway plan view of the same, Figure 3 is a front view of the same, and Figure 4 is a cutaway plan view of the same.
The figure is an overall side view of the fruit harvesting work machine, Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the control configuration, Figure 6 A, B is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device, and Figure 7 A, B,
C is an explanatory diagram of image processing, Figure 8 A, B, C, D,
E is an explanatory diagram of the harvesting operation, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the state of the cover body when the fruits and vegetables to be harvested are large.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another embodiment. 10... Vacuum pad, 15b... Cover body, 17... Katsuta, 26... Passage opening.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. With the vacuum pad 10 that sucks fruits and vegetables to be harvested directed toward the front of the hand, the vacuum pad 10 is switched between a capturing position where it protrudes toward the front of the hand and a handle cutting position where it retreats toward the rear of the hand. A cutter 17 is freely provided to cut the handle of fruits and vegetables adsorbed to the vacuum pad 10, and a cover body 15b is provided to cover the outer periphery of the hand. The hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables has a passage opening 26 formed at opposing locations, and the front end of the cover body 15b is divided in the circumferential direction, and the front ends are elastically attached to the outside of the passage opening 26. A hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables that is configured to be retractable and swingable.