Experimental Research on Grape Cluster Vibration Signals during Transportation and Placing for Harvest and Post-Harvest Handling

Muhammad Faheem, Jizhan Liu, Guozheng Chang, Irfan Abbas, Binbin Xie, Zhu Shan and Kaiyu Yang
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Muhammad Faheem: Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Jizhan Liu: Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Guozheng Chang: Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Irfan Abbas: Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Binbin Xie: Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Zhu Shan: Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Kaiyu Yang: Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-20

Abstract: Berry dropping or shattering is an important factor during the harvest and post-harvest handling of fresh eating grapes until they reach the supermarkets. There are a lot of methods to measure post-harvest placing damage and the detachment force for single fruits. However, until now, there has been no objective method to observe and analyze the berry dropping mechanism of cluster fruits during robotic post-harvest handling. Therefore, in this paper, the effect of a cluster’s vibration on berry drop during vertical transportation and the impact of different packaging materials on fresh grape clusters during robotic placing were analyzed. For this purpose, a lead screw lathe, along with an attached actuator, three grape cluster samples (0.48, 0.50, 0.53 kg), three packaging materials (rigid plastic box, corrugated fiberboard box, expandable polystyrene box), four transportation speeds (0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 m/s), and four acceleration excitations (6, 8, 10, 12 m/s 2 ) that were given in a mechanical system (actuator) were studied. In order to analyze the berry drop mechanism of grape clusters before and after the impact with packaging material, a force sensor and high-speed video camera were used. It was concluded from the vertical transportation test that with the increase in speed and acceleration excitations, the change in hanging force increased positively ( R 2 = 0.92). Additionally, the force after the striking of the grape cluster with packaging materials decreased negatively ( R 2 = 0.97), and the corresponding index of berry deflection increased. It was also observed from the high-speed camera images that rigid plastic boxes caused the maximum deflection of the grape berries, with the highest change in force of 8.6 N after the impact. Experimental results showed a negative correlation between the hanging force signals and the force after impact of the cluster, with a goodness of fit of R 2 = 0.95 at different speeds. Overall, the proposed findings can be used as a reference study for improving robotic post-harvest handling, providing a useful visual and technical understanding of the berry fall susceptibility of cluster fruits, and can be used to develop a post-harvest robotic placing tool for avoiding berry drop damage on both industrial and farm levels.

Keywords: grapes; cluster fruits; packaging materials; transportation and placing; excitation; vibration; signals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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