Vegetable Harvesting Robot Utilizing Visual-Tactile Handling Introduced in Plant Factory
- FingerVision
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
【大学発触覚センシング技術を開発するFingerVision】
FingerVision Inc. (CEO: Yuki Nono), a company aiming to solve various social issues and expand the applications of robots and machinery through the commercialization of its university-born "visual-tactile" technology, has developed a robot to automatically harvest leafy greens cultivated in plant factories.
At the request of PLANTX Corporation., a company promoting the social implementation of artificial light plant factories, FingerVision has completed the development and installation of a new equipment that utilizes its visual-tactile technology. This initiative is an example of new value creation through the fusion of technology and capital, and it has become a project that symbolizes the cooperative relationship between the two companies.
Going forward, we will contribute to further market expansion and the resolution of social issues through the development of products and services that utilize this equipment.
The Difficulty of Harvesting Leafy Greens and the Approach to Solving It
Leafy vegetables, such as lettuce, are delicate and vary individually from plant to plant. Therefore, handling the harvesting, grasping, and transferring of these vegetables by robot presents significant technical difficulties. Even in plant factories, where automation and equipment implementation have advanced in many processes, this is said to be one of the most difficult processes to automate. Specifically, the visual-tactile robot automates the work of cutting the lettuce cultivated on plates and transferring it to a conveyor or tray, all while grasping it "gently and without dropping."
By implementing its core technology, the visual-tactile sensor, onto a robot hand and building a system, FingerVision has succeeded in automating the harvesting, grasping, and transferring of leafy greens, which was conventionally difficult. After cutting, even when transferring vertically or horizontally, if the grasp becomes unstable, the system uses the sensation of "slippage" to stabilize the grasping force via feedback control. The robot system, equipped with integrated visual-tactile sensors, achieves this entire series of harvesting, grasping, and transferring tasks with a high success rate.
Future Outlook
The market for plant factories is not limited to Japan. There are also large demands overseas. Due to goals like addressing labor shortages and improving work quality, a strong need for automation exists for each process. Among these processes, harvesting work is particularly difficult to automate. Therefore, the impact of successful automation is significant, and the use of robots can create great added value for the industry and customers. FingerVision will continue to promote automation in the agricultural sector and contribute to solving industry challenges.
◆Company Profile◆
Company Name： FingerVision Inc.
CEO： Yuki Nono
Locations：
・1F Mitsui Woody Building, 2-4-14 Toyo, Koto-ku, Tokyo
・1F Right One Building, 73-1 Suzakuhozo-cho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
・2F NK Marunouchi Building, 2-17-13 Marunouchi, Naka-ku, Naogya, Aichi
Established： October 2021
X/Twitter： https://twitter.com/Yuki_Nono_fv
Email： contact@fingervision.jp
Webinar（FingerVision Robot Explanation）：https://tv.aperza.com/watch/2069
◆Technology Overview◆
The core technology is the concept of "reproducing tactile sensation based on images (cameras)." By mounting it on the fingertips of a robot hand, etc., it becomes possible to perceive tactile sensations (distribution of force and slip, etc.), enabling robots to handle objects with a sense of "palm" like a human. Its features are high functionality (high resolution, multi-modality) and high practicality with excellent economy. Although it is called a "tactile" sensor, it is a completely new concept of "visuo-tactile sensor" that also has the modality of seeing the object being grasped (vision) and has infinite application possibilities in addition to process automation combined with robots.
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