Design, Development and Testing of Feeding Grippers for Vegetable Plug Transplanters
Vegetable transplanting is an important and advantageous practice in vegetables production systems. In recent years, the development of vegetable transplanting tools has increased, as well as the interest for automatic and robotic transplanters. However, at present, the feeding of transplanting mach...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | AgriEngineering |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2624-7402/3/3/43 |
| _version_ | 1797520631271522304 |
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| author | Oliver Jonas Jorg Mino Sportelli Marco Fontanelli Christian Frasconi Michele Raffaelli Gualtiero Fantoni |
| author_facet | Oliver Jonas Jorg Mino Sportelli Marco Fontanelli Christian Frasconi Michele Raffaelli Gualtiero Fantoni |
| author_sort | Oliver Jonas Jorg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Vegetable transplanting is an important and advantageous practice in vegetables production systems. In recent years, the development of vegetable transplanting tools has increased, as well as the interest for automatic and robotic transplanters. However, at present, the feeding of transplanting machines is often still performed by hand. This paper presents the design, development and testing of a needle gripper and a two-finger gripper for vegetable transplanting. Both grippers were self-designed and tested for picking, lifting and transplanting plug seedlings. Tests have been conducted on fennel (<i>Foeniculum vulgare</i> L.), leek (<i>Allium ampeloprasum</i> L.) chicory (<i>Cichorium intybus</i> L.) and lettuce (<i>Lactuca sativa</i> L.) seedlings to determine the impact that gripper typology might have on the further growth of plants after transplanting. The average success rate of the two-finger gripper in the transplanting experiment was 95% and of the needle gripper 81.75%, respectively. Although neither gripper typology affected the growth of the seedlings after transplanting, several design implications were identified in order to improve the performance of both grippers. Furthermore, the two-finger gripper is more reliable for lettuce and chicory, while the needle gripper requires root plugs with higher firmness and cohesion to prevent shattering. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:59:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c3cc44641b294ba8bcc20868ef7b8618 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-7402 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:59:24Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | AgriEngineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-c3cc44641b294ba8bcc20868ef7b86182023-11-22T11:36:35ZengMDPI AGAgriEngineering2624-74022021-09-013366968010.3390/agriengineering3030043Design, Development and Testing of Feeding Grippers for Vegetable Plug TransplantersOliver Jonas Jorg0Mino Sportelli1Marco Fontanelli2Christian Frasconi3Michele Raffaelli4Gualtiero Fantoni5Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, ItalyVegetable transplanting is an important and advantageous practice in vegetables production systems. In recent years, the development of vegetable transplanting tools has increased, as well as the interest for automatic and robotic transplanters. However, at present, the feeding of transplanting machines is often still performed by hand. This paper presents the design, development and testing of a needle gripper and a two-finger gripper for vegetable transplanting. Both grippers were self-designed and tested for picking, lifting and transplanting plug seedlings. Tests have been conducted on fennel (<i>Foeniculum vulgare</i> L.), leek (<i>Allium ampeloprasum</i> L.) chicory (<i>Cichorium intybus</i> L.) and lettuce (<i>Lactuca sativa</i> L.) seedlings to determine the impact that gripper typology might have on the further growth of plants after transplanting. The average success rate of the two-finger gripper in the transplanting experiment was 95% and of the needle gripper 81.75%, respectively. Although neither gripper typology affected the growth of the seedlings after transplanting, several design implications were identified in order to improve the performance of both grippers. Furthermore, the two-finger gripper is more reliable for lettuce and chicory, while the needle gripper requires root plugs with higher firmness and cohesion to prevent shattering.https://www.mdpi.com/2624-7402/3/3/43seedling transplantingfriction gripperneedle gripperintrusive graspinggreen cover analysisplug-picking devices |
| spellingShingle | Oliver Jonas Jorg Mino Sportelli Marco Fontanelli Christian Frasconi Michele Raffaelli Gualtiero Fantoni Design, Development and Testing of Feeding Grippers for Vegetable Plug Transplanters AgriEngineering seedling transplanting friction gripper needle gripper intrusive grasping green cover analysis plug-picking devices |
| title | Design, Development and Testing of Feeding Grippers for Vegetable Plug Transplanters |
| title_full | Design, Development and Testing of Feeding Grippers for Vegetable Plug Transplanters |
| title_fullStr | Design, Development and Testing of Feeding Grippers for Vegetable Plug Transplanters |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design, Development and Testing of Feeding Grippers for Vegetable Plug Transplanters |
| title_short | Design, Development and Testing of Feeding Grippers for Vegetable Plug Transplanters |
| title_sort | design development and testing of feeding grippers for vegetable plug transplanters |
| topic | seedling transplanting friction gripper needle gripper intrusive grasping green cover analysis plug-picking devices |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2624-7402/3/3/43 |
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