Source: TANNER RESEARCH, INC. submitted to
AN AUTONOMOUS PALLET-STACKING ROBOT FOR FIELD USE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1016089
Grant No.
2018-33610-28229
Cumulative Award Amt.
$99,997.00
Proposal No.
2018-00262
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2018
Project End Date
Apr 30, 2019
Grant Year
2018
Program Code
[8.13]- Plant Production and Protection-Engineering
Recipient Organization
TANNER RESEARCH, INC.
825 S MYRTLE AVE
MONROVIA,CA 91016
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
We propose to develop a lightweight and affordable one-armed autonomous robot to transfer produce from a wheeled transport robot to a pallet. In-field automation improves efficiency by increasing production and/or reducing labor costs by up to $35M/year for California strawberries alone. Our robot will improve health and safety by reducing worker injuries from repeated lifting and by minimizing chances for produce contamination from human-borne bacteria and microorganisms.The robotic arm must be safe, reliable, affordable, lightweight, and portable--more so than existing commercial robotic arms. The robot must be rugged (survive high throughput use), low power (battery operation for 4+ hours), and capable of quickly moving produce boxes. Our robot will be aided in achieving these requirements by containing lightweight compliant links driven by cables, with motors in the base.During the Phase I effort, we will design and construct the prototype hardware and firmware. We propose an aggressive Phase I program because we have software, hardware, and electronics modules from our existing autonomous produce transport robots. By the end of Phase I we expect to demonstrate a functioning six degree of freedom arm moving a produce box under manual electronic control. In Phase II, we will demonstrate full autonomous operation (including collision avoidance, target identification, and motion algorithms). Phase II will include more extensive field trials with the arm interacting with transport robots, produce boxes, and a human manager.We will first commercialize with our lead customer Terry Farms before expanding to other berry and lightweight produce growers.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
40253102020100%
Knowledge Area
402 - Engineering Systems and Equipment;

Subject Of Investigation
5310 - Machinery and equipment;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering;
Goals / Objectives
We propose to develop a lightweight and affordable one-armed autonomous robot to transfer produce from a wheeled transport robot to a pallet. In-field automation improves efficiency by increasing production and/or reducing labor costs by up to $35M/year for California strawberries alone. Our robot will improve health and safety by reducing worker injuries from repeated lifting and by minimizing chances for produce contamination from human-borne bacteria and microorganisms.
Project Methods
The five technical objectives listed below support retiring the biggest risk factors: validating the strength, cost, weight, and power budget of the compliant robotic arm. We will focus on the mechanical, electrical, and base software tasks during Phase I, namely:Demonstrate arm joint mechanism feasibility with cable pass-throughDemonstrate gripper mechanics and functionalityDemonstrate mechatronics control system with closed-loop feedbackShow initial software coordinated control as a foundation for autonomous operationEvaluate materials and design in terms of ruggedness, reliability, and performance in real world applicationsThe technical objectives are in support of a final Phase I demonstration of a robot arm moving a produce box from a transporter robot to a pallet under electronic but manual control. This operation will also prove our robot is capable of loading other vehicles as part of a larger harvest automation system.

Progress 09/01/18 to 04/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Strawberry growers primarily in Southern California. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In addition to meeting with growers in their fields to discuss the project, we attended the California Strawberry Commission's Automation Summit on April 3rd, 2019. At the summit, we met with stakeholders including growers and potential commercial partners. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the second half of the Phase I effort, we will begin constructing a physical prototype to verify the counterbalancing models developed during the current reporting period.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In the first half of the Phase I effort, we conducted a thorough design study for the robotic arm and met with California strawberry growers to get initial feedback. This preliminary feedback was incorporated into the design of the robotic arm. The robotic arm must be safe, reliable, affordable, lightweight, and portable--more so than existing commercial robotic arms. The robot must be rugged (survive high throughput use), low power (battery operation for 4+ hours), and capable of quickly moving produce boxes. This robot will eventually be mounted on a four-wheel platform (not shown here). Its task is to pick up a 10 or 25 pound box of strawberries (shown lower left) from our autonomous transport robots and stack them on a pallet. The robot then takes an empty box from another pallet and places it on the autonomous transporter. The arm is counter-weighted for two distinct purposes: 1) Keep the center of gravity over the wheels so the arm platform doesn't tip over. Passive weighting of the platform could perform this function, but at additional weight. 2) Reduce the torque requirements of one or two of the motors and therefore make the robot cheaper.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/18 to 04/30/19

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Strawberry growers primarily in Southern California. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In addition to meeting with growers in their fields to discuss the project, we attended the California Strawberry Commission's Automation Summit on April 3rd, 2019. At the summit, we met with stakeholders including growers and potential commercial partners. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? In the first half of the Phase I effort, we conducted a thorough design study for the robotic arm and met with California strawberry growers to get initial feedback. This preliminary feedback was incorporated into the design of the robotic arm. At the end of Phase I we demonstrated a functioning six degree of freedom arm moving a produce box under manual electronic control. If a Phase II would have been awarded, we would have demonstrated full autonomous operation (including collision avoidance, target identification, and motion algorithms). Phase II would have included more extensive field trials with the arm interacting with transport robots, produce boxes, and a human manager. The robotic arm must be safe, reliable, affordable, lightweight, and portable--more so than existing commercial robotic arms. The robot must be rugged (survive high throughput use), low power (battery operation for 4+ hours), and capable of quickly moving produce boxes. This robot will eventually be mounted on a four-wheel platform (not shown here). Its task is to pick up a 10 or 25 pound box of strawberries (shown lower left) from our autonomous transport robots and stack them on a pallet. The robot then takes an empty box from another pallet and places it on the autonomous transporter. The arm is counter-weighted for two distinct purposes: 1) Keep the center of gravity over the wheels so the arm platform doesn't tip over. Passive weighting of the platform could perform this function, but at additional weight. 2) Reduce the torque requirements of one or two of the motors and therefore make the robot cheaper. Though we did adjust some of design parameters to include feedback from potential customers, we completed all tasks we set out accomplish in Phase I. We developed a cable driven robotic arm capable of manipulating and lifting a strawberry box. We will first commercialize with our lead customers including Driscolls, O.C. Produce, and Terry Farms before expanding to other berry and lightweight produce growers.

    Publications