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Development of Machine Hand for Apple Quality Sorting

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  2018 ASABE Annual International Meeting  1800103.(doi:10.13031/aim.201800103)
Authors:   Ying Ma, Yankun Peng, Yan Li
Keywords:   machine hand; apple quality sorting; SSC; VIS-NIR spectroscopy

Abstract. A new machine hand for sorting the SSC of apples was introduced in this research. The machine hand is composed of hardware and software systems. The hardware system was designed with stepping motor, motor driver, Single Chip, sensor, VIS-NIR spectrometer and optical fiber. Main-computer control interface was designed. And upper computer program was designed. Machine hand includes grasp mechanism, near-infrared spectral acquisition system, and control system. Apple is gripped by grasp mechanism and spectra are acquired by near-infrared spectral acquisition system. Grasp mechanism is powered by stepping motor. The rotating motion of the stepping motor is transformed into reciprocating motion by lead screw, and then the connecting rod moves the finger to grip the apple. Force Sensitive Resistors (FSR) is used to measure the pressure of gripping to avoid damaging apple. Near-infrared spectral acquisition system includes small near-infrared spectrometer and optical fiber. The spectral information is acquired while machine hand gripping the apple. This design provides a new method for sorting according to apple's internal quality.

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