Soft Grippers for Automatic Crop Harvesting: A Review

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Automation
• Agricultural Technology

Background:

• Agriculture 4.0 integrates advanced technologies like AI and IoT into farming.
• Soft robotics, particularly soft grippers, presents novel solutions for agricultural challenges.
• Delicate product handling and hygiene requirements in unstructured environments are key drivers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review soft end-effectors for agricultural applications, focusing on robotic harvesting.
• To analyze the current state of automatic picking for various crops and identify gaps.
• To present and discuss recent advances in soft gripper design, materials, manufacturing, and control.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of soft end-effectors in agriculture.
• Analysis of automatic picking tasks and crop-specific challenges.
• Discussion of soft gripper properties, manufacturing, and control strategies.

Main Results:

• Identified crops lacking automated picking solutions.
• Detailed the common methods used based on fruit botanical characteristics.
• Presented latest advances in soft gripper materials, manufacturing, and control.

Conclusions:

• Soft grippers are crucial for advancing robotic harvesting in Agriculture 4.0.
• Further research is needed to overcome challenges for real-world implementation.
• This review serves as a guide for soft robotics in fruit harvesting.