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Evaluation of a low-cost selective shaking device and soft surface catchment for fresh market blueberry harvesting
Abstract
With the surge in global blueberry consumption, there is a growing need for efficient harvesting methods to meet market demands. Traditional hand harvesting remains the norm for fresh market blueberries, but it is labor-intensive and costly. This paper presents a feasibility study of a cost-effective human-assisted mechanical harvesting system designed for tunnel-grown blueberries. The system incorporates lightweight, battery-powered hand-held shakers and multi-level soft surface catchers operating in tandem. Performance evaluation compared traditional hand-harvesting with the proposed system in terms of post-harvest quality and harvest rate. Results indicate that the proposed system offers a higher harvest rate (81.3 berry per minute) but may yield more unripe berries (30.6%). Optimization of detachment settings at 900rpm for 1.2s, shows potential to improve system performance up to 80.7%. Overall, the study highlights the effectiveness of the human-assisted approach in bridging the gap between manual and machine harvesting, with implications for enhancing efficiency and reducing labor costs in the blueberry industry.
Type
Conference Contribution
Type of thesis
Series
Citation
Sim, A., Pearse, J., Mcguinness, B., Williams, H., & Duke, M. (2024). Evaluation of a low-cost selective shaking device and soft surface catchment for fresh market blueberry harvesting. IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE) : [proceedings]. IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, 2813-2818. https://doi.org/10.1109/CASE59546.2024.10711523
Date
2024
Publisher
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Degree
Supervisors
Rights
This is an accepted version of a conference paper presented at the 2024 IEEE 20th International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE). © Copyright 2024 IEEE.