JPH0223133B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 57-140021
No. 59-31614), the present applicant has already proposed a fruit harvesting robot hand installed in a fruit harvesting device, in particular, a robot hand for fruit harvesting equipped with a fruit harvesting device having a plurality of bendable finger members around the opening of the fruit trapping part. The present invention relates to a robot hand for fruit harvesting, which is arranged upright and configured to capture fruit by bending each of the finger members inwardly of the opening.

In the case of this type of robot hand, it is generally necessary to reliably capture fruits of indeterminate size and shape, so a means of capturing them using a plurality of bendable finger members has been proposed. .

However, since the orientation of the stem of the fruit is usually not constant, there is a problem in that the fruit cannot be successfully taken into the gripping part of the hand if the gripping operation is performed only from a certain direction (for example, from below).

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the object thereof is to include means for detecting the direction of the fruit stem, and a means for capturing the fruit while automatically correcting the direction of capturing the fruit. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a robot hand for fruit harvesting.

In order to achieve the above object, the robot hand for fruit harvesting according to the present invention is provided with a means for detecting the force acting on each finger member when the finger member captures a fruit, and based on the result of the detection of the force. The present invention is characterized in that means is provided for automatically controlling the orientation of the fruit catching section with respect to the fruit.

Due to the above structure, the following excellent effects have been achieved.

In other words, the force acting on each finger member, that is, the force corresponding to the orientation of the fruit stem, is detected and the orientation of the capturing part relative to the fruit is automatically controlled, so the fruit capturing part is always kept in its position regardless of the orientation of the fruit stem. It was possible to capture the fruit by pointing it in the direction of the peduncle, and it became possible to capture the fruit reliably.

In addition, since the fruit is captured in the direction where the fruit stem is located, the direction of the capture part and the fruit stem remains constant after the fruit is taken into the capturing part, making subsequent processes such as cutting the fruit stem easier. It also has the effect of becoming.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fruit harvesting device has a flexible arm 1 attached to a movable main body (not shown), and a fruit harvesting robot hand 3 is attached to the tip of the arm 1 through a joint 2 so that the direction can be changed freely. It is being

In this robot hand 3, one opening of a hollow cylindrical catching part 4 is formed as a fruit introduction port 5, and a shutter 6 for conveying picked fruits to a storage part (not shown) is connected to the other opening. It is set up.

The robot hand 3 includes a plurality of bendable finger members 7 around the fruit introduction port 5.
are erected, and a wire 8 is provided that loosely penetrates the tip of the finger member 7, and by pulling the wire 8, the finger member 7 is inserted into the fruit introduction port 5. It is configured to capture fruit by bending in the opposite direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, the finger member 7 is made bendable by a spring 9, and is erected on one end of an elastic member 10 such as a leaf spring. The other end is fixed to the periphery of the fruit introduction port 5. A strain gauge 11 is provided as a means for detecting the force applied to the elastic member 10 via the finger member 7. Based on the force acting on the proximal end of the finger member 7 when the finger member 7 is captured, the direction of the entire capturing portion 4 is determined by averaging the forces acting on each of the finger members 7 as shown in FIG. The direction of the fruit is corrected so that it faces in the direction that the stem of the fruit is located.

Next, another embodiment will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a drawing showing another embodiment of the support of the finger members 7 and the arrangement of the strain gauges 11. a cylindrical body 13 having supported finger members 7, and a strain gauge 11 serving as a means for detecting the force acting on the finger members 7 as the strain of the elastic body 14 in the same manner as described above; is provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the robot hand for fruit harvesting according to the present invention; FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the robot hand, FIG. 2 is a side view of the main parts of the finger members, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the hand. , and FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section of the main part showing another embodiment. 4... Fruit catching part, 7... Finger member, 11... Force detection means (strain gauge) acting on the finger member, 10... Elastic member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of bendable finger members 7 are provided upright on the periphery of the opening of the fruit catcher 4, and each of the finger members 7 is bent inward of the opening. The robot hand for fruit harvesting is configured to capture fruit by the following methods, and is provided with means 11 for detecting the force acting on each finger member 7 when the finger member 7 captures a fruit. A robot hand for fruit harvesting is provided with means for automatically controlling the orientation of the fruit catching section 4 with respect to the fruit based on the detection result of the force. 2 The force detection means 11 is a strain gauge 1 that detects the displacement of the elastic member 10 that supports the finger members 7.
1. A robot hand for fruit harvesting according to claim 1.