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In the orchard, robots precisely pick grapes, apples, pears and other fruits. In the greenhouse, mechanical arms gently “dress up” delicate fruits such as strawberries and tomatoes. In the chrysanthemum field, intelligent equipment efficiently harvests tea chrysanthemums… On October 15th, at the special matchmaking event for agricultural robots held at Nanjing Agricultural University, a group of “new steel farmers” who emerged from the laboratory made a collective appearance. With their hard-core technological strength, they revolutionized the traditional agricultural production model and injected strong impetus into the development of smart agriculture.
Entering the exhibition area, the “figure” of the orchard intelligent harvesting robot catches the eye particularly. It is equipped with two sets of mechanical arms and an advanced visual recognition system, which can flexibly move around in the complex environment of the orchard, accurately identify the maturity of the fruits, and achieve automated fruit picking.
Two members of the R&D team each held a pear. The two mechanical arms “took a look”, quickly grabbed it, and precisely placed it through the hose opening into the “storage room”. Based on a series of algorithms, we have built a dedicated dataset for orchards, optimizing the real-time detection capabilities under occlusion, lighting, and near-color background interference. This has enabled the robot’s recognition accuracy to exceed 90%, achieving efficient and non-destructive automated harvesting in standardized orchard scenarios such as pears, apples, and grapes. Professor Xue Jinlin, the vice dean of the College of Engineering at Nanjing Agricultural University and the project team leader, introduced.
The dual-arm tomato-picking robot beside it is equally “skilled”. In the tomato plantation, this “Iron Man” moves forward steadily. His two mechanical arms work in coordination. Through high-precision sensors and intelligent algorithms, they accurately locate ripe tomatoes and complete a series of actions such as picking and sorting. In the past, tomato picking relied on manual labor, which was time-consuming, labor-intensive and difficult to ensure the picking standards. The emergence of this robot has enabled tomato picking to be intelligent, standardized and efficient. On-site technicians introduced.
Field experiments show that the average picking efficiency of a single arm of the robot reaches 5.2 seconds per piece, and the overall picking efficiency of the robot is 16 to 18 pieces per minute. It is worth mentioning that the project team innovatively designed a multi-layer vacuum suction cup rotating end effector, which can dynamically adjust the adsorption surface in combination with the curvature shape perception of the fruit surface, improve the success rate of picking, and avoid damage to the fruit skin and plant stems during the picking process.
Strawberry picking also has an “intelligent assistant”. At the scene, a facility strawberry-picking robot equipped with a flexible mechanical arm was simulating the actions of picking in the field, attracting everyone’s attention. It can precisely identify ripe strawberries and gently pick them through a bionic end effector, solving the problems of low efficiency and easy damage to strawberries in manual picking. We apply advanced technologies such as deep learning and robot operating system communication to accurately classify the maturity grades of strawberries, and use the key point technology of fruit stems to locate the picking points, achieving precise identification and positioning of strawberries and completing the selective harvesting of strawberries. The R&D personnel of this project introduced it to everyone.
In addition, a double-footed track gap adjustable Golden Thread Chrysanthemum picking robot designed for the famous and high-quality tea chrysanthemum – Golden Thread Chrysanthemum, also demonstrates remarkable capabilities. It is introduced that its unique gap adjustment mechanism can adapt to different terrains, achieve high-precision displacement and improve operation efficiency at the same time. It also adopts an envelope-type end effector to increase the success rate of picking and reduce the damage of filaments.
Not only are there “efficient harvesting teams” in orchards, but also “all-rounders” working in the fields. Among them, the distributed electric drive multi-functional mobile operation robot for facility horticulture is a standout.
This robot is designed to meet the operational requirements of micro-tillage, sowing, spraying, harvesting and other links in fields such as facility vegetables and flowers. It demonstrates a “versatile” side – it can be equipped with various farming tools such as rotary tillers, sowing and fertilizing according to different operational needs, and achieve full-process operations from land preparation to planting management.
This robot adopts a distributed hub motor drive system, significantly enhancing operational efficiency and mobility. It focuses on breaking through key technologies such as the integrated design of low-speed and high-torque hub motors, high-level autonomous operation, and multi-functional operation integration. It has completed equipment test verification and demonstration application in the multi-functional operation scenarios of facility horticulture. Professor Zheng Enlai from the College of Engineering at Nanjing Agricultural University introduced.
In the field of pest and disease control, the 3WZ-600 orchard air-assisted pesticide application robot demonstrates its “precise combat” capability. The electrically-driven navigation-type intelligent garlic planter can achieve high-precision seed collection and precise sowing, solving problems such as low intelligence level of garlic planters and difficulty in detecting missed sowing… On the campus of Nanjing Agricultural University, a variety of agricultural robots were showcased, making this special matchmaking event like a “feast” of modern agricultural technology.
Promoting the in-depth integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation is an inherent requirement for achieving high-quality development. Nanjing is rich in scientific and educational resources and has a solid industrial foundation. The Nanjing Municipal Office for the Promotion of the Robot Industry, established in March this year, is making every effort to accelerate the development of the robot industry. Taking the lead in organizing this special agricultural robot matchmaking event is one of the key measures.
For these robots to move from the laboratory to the fields, it requires the industrialization experience of enterprises. Enterprises’ expansion into the intelligent agricultural market also cannot do without the technical support of universities. A person in charge of a participating enterprise frankly admitted that this school-local connection enabled the supply and demand sides to precisely “join hands”, accelerating the transformation and implementation of innovative achievements in agricultural robots.
