Robotic fruit picking system

Abstract

A robotic fruit picking system includes an autonomous robot that includes a positioning subsystem that enables autonomous positioning of the robot using a computer vision guidance system. The robot also includes at least one picking arm and at least one picking head, or other type of end effector, mounted on each picking arm to either cut a stem or branch for a specific fruit or bunch of fruits or pluck that fruit or bunch. A computer vision subsystem analyses images of the fruit to be picked or stored and a control subsystem is programmed with or learns picking strategies using machine learning techniques. A quality control (QC) subsystem monitors the quality of fruit and grades that fruit according to size and/or quality. The robot has a storage subsystem for storing fruit in containers for storage or transportation, or in punnets for retail.

1 . An agricultural robotic system comprising:
 two or more autonomous robots, in which each robot is a crop harvesting or crop carrying or crop spraying robot;   a positioning subsystem configured to estimate or determine the position of each robot;   a communication subsystem to enable the robots to automatically share information about their position such that the positioning subsystem enables autonomous positioning of the several autonomous robots using a computer implemented guidance system;   and in which the robots are further configured to form a convoy of robots, all following a similar route.   
     
     
         2 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the two or more robots form a convoy in which each robot follows a substantially similar route using the computer implemented guidance system. 
     
     
         3 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which each robot follows its predecessor robot at a configurable target distance or after a configurable target time. 
     
     
         4 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the positioning subsystem measures the displacement of each robot relative to a global coordinate frame or to other robots or the trajectories of the other robots. 
     
     
         5 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which one or more robots automatically follow a single lead robot. 
     
     
         6 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 5 , in which the single lead robot is driven under human control. 
     
     
         7 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 5 , in which the single lead robot is driven under human control using a user interface. 
     
     
         8 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the system is configured to choose the trajectory of each robot so as to distribute the trajectories of all robots over the surface of the ground so as to optimize a configurable metric. 
     
     
         9 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 8 , in which the system is further configured to dynamically distribute the trajectories. 
     
     
         10 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 8 , in which the configurable metric takes into account one or more of the following: journey time, distance, degree of spread or damage to the ground. 
     
     
         11 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the system includes a control subsystem that is configured such that each robot can achieve a desired trajectory or pose relative to a trajectory or pose of the lead robot. 
     
     
         12 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the system includes a graphical user interface that displays information about the several robots. 
     
     
         13 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which a user interface provides control, such as start and stop, for each robot. 
     
     
         14 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the system includes an emergency stop device configured to stop all the robots. 
     
     
         15 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 14 , in which the emergency stop device is an emergency stop button and/or an emergency stop bumper. 
     
     
         16 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the two or more robots include sensors, such as bumpers, that will cause an emergency stop in the event that the robot encounters an obstacle. 
     
     
         17 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the guidance system will emergency stop all robots if one robot emergency stops. 
     
     
         18 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which a user interface provides or displays an emergency stop button. 
     
     
         19 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the communication subsystem uses WIFI or other wireless techniques. 
     
     
         20 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which information about the several robots position includes time-stamped pose estimates obtained from each robot. 
     
     
         21 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the positioning subsystem is also configured to estimate or determine the orientation of each robot. 
     
     
         22 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the position and orientation of each robot are relative to a map coordinate system. 
     
     
         23 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the system is configured to estimate absolute pose of the several robots in a world coordinate system. 
     
     
         24 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the system is configured to estimate pose of each robot relative to one or more neighbouring robots. 
     
     
         25 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which one or more cameras are attached to each robot with a known pose in a standard robot coordinate frame. 
     
     
         26 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the positioning subsystem includes sensors such as ultrasound sensors, accelerometers, forwards or backwards facing cameras. 
     
     
         27 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 26 , in which information from one or more sensors is fused with information from a GPS positioning subsystem. 
     
     
         28 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the information about the position of several robots and the urgency of any fault condition, or impending fault condition, affecting one or more robots is used to plan a human supervisor's route amongst them. 
     
     
         29 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which the robots are configured to have distinctive features or markers for automatic detection using a computer vision system. 
     
     
         30 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 29 , in which the distinctive features or markers include a bar code, a QR code, combination of light or light pattern. 
     
     
         31 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which each robot includes a visual identifier which can be turned on or off by selecting the specific robot on a user interface. 
     
     
         32 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 31 , in which the visual identifier includes a light or light pattern. 
     
     
         33 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 31 , in which the visual identifier is projected upwards onto the roof of a polytunnel in which crops are being grown. 
     
     
         34 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 1 , in which couplings, such as mechanical couplings, are used to couple each robot to its predecessor robot. 
     
     
         35 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 34 , in which each robot includes a device to measure the direction and magnitude of force being transmitted by a robot's coupling to its predecessor such as to derive a control signal for its motors. 
     
     
         36 . The agricultural robotic system of  claim 34 , in which the two or more robots share responsibility for providing motive force.