A Strawberry Harvesting Tool with Minimal Footprint

TL;DR

This paper introduces a minimalist strawberry harvesting tool that uses laser cutting to efficiently harvest fruit while sterilizing the stem, potentially extending shelf life and reducing disease spread.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel laser-based harvesting prototype with minimal footprint, optimized for speed and sterilization in indoor strawberry harvesting.

Findings

Cycle time of 5.56 seconds achieved

Cut time of 2.88 seconds achieved

Effective sterilization and preservation of fruit shelf life

Abstract

In this paper, a novel prototype for harvesting table-top grown strawberries is presented, that is minimalist in its footprint interacting with the fruit. In our methodology, a smooth trapper manipulates the stem into a precise groove location at which a distant laser beam is focused. The tool reaches temperatures as high as 188{\deg} Celsius and as such killing germs and preventing the spread of local plant diseases. The burnt stem wound preserves water content and in turn the fruit shelf life. Cycle and cut times achieved are 5.56 and 2.88 seconds respectively in successful in-door harvesting demonstration. Extensive experiments are performed to optimize the laser spot diameter and lateral speed against the cutting time.