Clamping root-cutting end-effector for harvesting fresh safflower

Authors

  • Zhenguo Zhang 1. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China 2. Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Intelligent Agricultural Equipment, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6970-6445
  • Chao Zeng 1. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China 2. Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Intelligent Agricultural Equipment, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
  • Peng Xu 1. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China 2. Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Intelligent Agricultural Equipment, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
  • Ruimeng Shi 1. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China 2. Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Intelligent Agricultural Equipment, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
  • Yunze Wang 1. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China 2. Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Intelligent Agricultural Equipment, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
  • Zhenyu Xing 3. College of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25165/ijabe.v18i2.9461

Keywords:

harvest, end-effector, fresh safflower, clamping, root-cutting

Abstract

A suitable picking method for the end-effector is the key to achieving low-damage picking. Due to the high moisture content of fresh safflower and its fragile filaments, achieving low-damage picking is a challenge for most picking robots. In this paper, a clamping and root-cutting end-effector for harvesting fresh safflower is developed. It utilizes dual rollers to pre-clamp the filaments and a blade to root-cut the safflower necking to realize the safflower harvesting operation. A mechanical model of dual rollers-blade-filaments cutting was constructed to theoretically analyze the harvesting process. The key factors affecting the performance of the end-effector were identified as blade feed speed, rotation speed, and roller clearance. Using the filament removal rate and damage rate as evaluation indices, the central composite design was carried out. The mathematical model between the test factors and evaluation indices was obtained, and the regression model was optimized with multiple objectives. Finally, the optimal combination of parameters was determined to be a blade feed speed of 40 mm/s, a rotation speed of 318 r/min, and a roller clearance of 0.60 mm. The field test was conducted under the optimal parameter combination, and the filament removal rate and damage rate were 91.25% and 5.57%, respectively. The optimized results had an error of less than 5%, indicating that the designed end-effector can harvest filaments with high removal and low damage rates. This study provides a reference for the low-damage harvesting of fresh safflower. Key words: harvest; end-effector; fresh safflower; clamping; root-cutting DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20251802.9461 Citation: Zhang Z G, Zeng C, Xu P, Shi R M, Wang Y Z, Xing Z Y. Clamping root-cutting end-effector for harvesting fresh safflower. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2025; 18(2): 146–154.

References

De Oliveira Neto S S, Zeffa D M, Freiria G H, Zoz T, Da Silva C J, Zanotto M D, et al. Adaptability and Stability of Safflower Genotypes for Oil Production. Plants, 2022; 11(5): 708.

Zhang Z G, Shi R M, Xing Z Y, Guo Q F, Zeng C. Improved Faster Region Based Convolutional Neural Networks (R-CNN) Model Based on Split Attention for the Detection of Safflower Filaments in Natural Environments. Agronomy, 2023; 13(10): 2596.

Hu Z, Zeng H, Ge Y, Wang W, Wang J. Simulation and Experiment of Gas-Solid Flow in a Safflower Sorting Device Based on the CFD-DEM Coupling Method. Processes, 2021; 9(7): 1239.

Guo H, Qiu Z X, Gao G M, Wu T L, Chen H Y, Wang X. Safflower picking trajectory planning strategy based on an ant colony genetic fusion algorithm. Agriculture, 2024; 14(4): 622.

Zhang H, Ge Y, Sun C, Zeng H F, Liu N. Picking path planning method of dual rollers type safflower picking robot based on improved ant colony algorithm. Processes, 2022; 10(6): 1213.

Ge Y, Zhang L X, Qian Y, Jiao X P, Chen Y B. Dynamic model for sucking process of pneumatic cutting-type safflower harvest device. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2016; 9(5): 43–50.

Bac C W, Roorda T, Reshef R, Berman S, Hemming J, Van Henten E. Analysis of a motion planning problem for sweet-pepper harvesting in a dense obstacle environment. Biosystems engineering, 2016; 146: 85–97.

Barth R, Hemming J, Van Henten E J. Angle estimation between plant parts for grasp optimisation in harvest robots. Biosystems Engineering, 2019; 183: 26–46.

Marinoudi V, Sørensen C G, Pearson S, Bochtis D. Robotics and labour in agriculture: A context consideration. Biosystems Engineering, 2019; 184: 111–121.

Tao K, Wang Z, Yuan J, Liu X. Design of a novel end-effector for robotic bud thinning of Agaricus bisporus mushrooms. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2023; 210: 107880.

Li M, Liu P. A bionic adaptive end-effector with rope-driven fingers for pear fruit harvesting. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2023; 211: 107952.

Bai Y, Zhang B, Xu N, Zhou J, Shi J Y, Diao Z H. Vision-based navigation and guidance for agricultural autonomous vehicles and robots: A review. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2023; 205: 107584.

Sui S S, Li M, Li Z P, Zhao Y H, Wang C Y, Du W S, et al. A comb-type end-effector for inflorescence thinning of table grapes. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2024; 217: 108607.

Gao J, Zhang F, Zhang J X, Yuan T, Yin J L, Guo H, et al. Development and evaluation of a pneumatic finger-like end-effector for cherry tomato harvesting robot in greenhouse. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2022; 197: 106879.

Gao J, Zhang F, Zhang J X, Guo H, Gao J F. Picking patterns evaluation for cherry tomato robotic harvesting end-effector design. Biosystems Engineering, 2024; 239: 1–12.

Wang Y, Yang Y, Yang C H, Zhao H M, Chen G B, Zhang Z, et al. End-effector with a bite mode for harvesting citrus fruit in random stalk orientation environment. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2019; 157: 454–470.

Castro-Garcia S, Sola-Guirado R, Gil-Ribes J. Vibration analysis of the fruit detachment process in late-season ‘Valencia’ orange with canopy shaker technology. Biosystems Engineering, 2018; 170: 130–137.

Van Herck L, Kurtser P, Wittemans L, Edan Y. Crop design for improved robotic harvesting: A case study of sweet pepper harvesting. Biosystems Engineering, 2020; 192: 294–308.

Roshanianfard A, Noguchi N. Pumpkin harvesting robotic end-effector. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2020; 174: 105503.

Zhang Z, Zeng C, Xing Z, Xu P, Guo Q F, Shi R M, et al. Discrete element modeling and parameter calibration of safflower biomechanical properties. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2024; 17(2): 37–46.

Ge Y, Zhang L X, Gu J W, Fu W, Zhu R G, Zhang H M. Parameter optimization and experiment of dual roller harvesting device for safflower. Transactions of the CSAE, 2015; 31(21): 35–42.

Zhang Z G, Xing Z Y, Yang S P, Feng N, Liang R Q, Zhao M Y. Design and experiments of the circular arc progressive type harvester for the safflower filaments. Transactions of the CSAE, 2022; 38(17): 10–21.

Cao W B, Yang S P, Li S F, Jiao H B, Lian G D, Niu C, et al. Parameter optimization of height limiting device for comb-type safflower harvesting machine. Transactions of the CSAE, 2019; 35(14): 48–56. DOI: 10.11975/j. issn. 1002-6819.2019. 14.006. DOI: 10.11975/j.issn.1002-6819.2019.14.006. (in Chinese)

Sun C, Ge Y, Zhang H, Zeng H F, Zhang L X. Design and experiment of the vertical brush-roller picking device for dry-safflower harvesters. Transactions of the CSAE, 2023; 40(6): 203–211. (in Chinese)

Xing Z Y, Zhang Z G, Shi R M, Guo Q F, Zeng C. Filament-necking localization method via combining improved PSO with rotated rectangle algorithm for safflower-picking robots. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2023; 215: 108464.

Huang M S, He L, Choi D, Pecchia J, Li Y M. Picking dynamic analysis for robotic harvesting of Agaricus bisporus mushrooms. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2021; 185: 106145.

Liu J Z, Peng Y, Faheem M. Experimental and theoretical analysis of fruit plucking patterns for robotic tomato harvesting. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2020; 173: 105330.

Xu X, Wang Y N, Jiang Y M. End-effectors developed for citrus and other spherical crops. Applied Sciences, 2022; 12(15): 7945.

Mousaviraad M, Tekeste M. Effect of grain moisture content on physical, mechanical, and bulk dynamic behaviour of maize. Biosystems Engineering, 2020; 195: 186–197.

Vu V, Ngo Q, Nguyen T, Nguyen H, Nguyen Q, Nguyen V. Multi-objective optimisation of cutting force and cutting power in chopping agricultural residues. Biosystems Engineering, 2020; 191: 107–115.

Guo J, Karkee M, Yang Z, Fu H, Li J, Jiang Y L. Discrete element modeling and physical experiment research on the biomechanical properties of banana bunch stalk for postharvest machine development. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2021; 188: 106308.

Golzarijalal M, Ong L, Harvie D, Gras S. Experimental investigation, numerical simulation and RSM modelling of the freezing and thawing of Mozzarella cheese. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 2024; 143: 143–157.

Downloads

Published

2025-04-25

How to Cite

Zhang, Z., Zeng, C., Xu, P., Shi, R., Wang, Y., & Xing, Z. (2025). Clamping root-cutting end-effector for harvesting fresh safflower. International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 18(2), 146–154. https://doi.org/10.25165/ijabe.v18i2.9461

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 2 (2025): IJABE

Section

Power and Machinery Systems

License

IJABE is an international peer reviewed open access journal, adopting Creative Commons Copyright Notices as follows.


Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:


  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).