Autonomous Nutmeg Harvesting Robot

Abstract

An autonomous robot that identifies mature nutmeg fruits and harvests them from any height
with a 5DOF robotic arm and a linear actuation mechanism is developed. The camera
processes real time video of the tree and recognizes mature fruits and their location
coordinates. This action is controlled by means of a raspberry pi 3 model. The image is
processed with the help of OpenCV platform. This information is forwarded onto an Arduino
UNO board, which controls the movement of the robotic arm. The arduino board then runs
the necessary inverse kinematics algorithms and moves the joints at appropriate angles to
reach the target location. Then with the help of a gripper end- effector, the fruit is plucked
and put into a container attached to the robot. Once the fruits at a certain height level are
completely plucked, the robotic arm platform moves onto a greater height on its own, by
means of linear actuator fixed at the bottom. Since the robot is placed at a certain radius
from the trunk of the tree, it just reaches for the fruit.