Robotic sod stacker

Abstract

A numerically-controlled robotic manipulator arm mounted to a sod harvester comprises two segments pivotally coupled together. One segment is rotatably coupled to a fixed base on the harvester while the second segment carries a pick-up head which can turn with respect to the segment. The pick-up head is capable of picking up, holding, and releasing sod rolls. The arm is programmable so that a variety of configurations of stacked sod rolls can be achieved.

1 . An apparatus for cutting and stacking rolls of sod comprising: 
 a wheeled chassis;    a means for cutting a plurality of sod strips;    an accumulator configured to hold the plurality of sod strips;    a sod roller configured to roll the sod;    a conveyor configured to transfer sod from the cutting mechanism to the accumulator;    a robotic arm configured to simultaneously lift the plurality of sod strips from the accumulator to a sod storage location, said robotic arm having a horizontal pick-up head having a plurality of gripper modules, each gripper module configured to engage a separate individual sod roll.; and    a controller configured to control the actuation of the accumulator and the robotic arm, wherein the accumulator comprises a retractable portion which allows an operator to return a rejected sod roll to the sod field.