Development of a Supervised Robotic Prototype for Citrus Harvesting

Development of a Supervised Robotic Prototype for Citrus Harvesting | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Development of a Supervised Robotic Prototype for Citrus Harvesting Nasasira Jossy, Umezuruike Chinechere, Afam Uzorka, Yuma Erick, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4277555/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Citrus harvesting has been done manually for the past Sixty-Two (62) years in Eastern Uganda, where commercial citrus cultivation started in the 1960s. Farmers use employees to help in harvesting so that fruits can be picked on schedule. At this point, the hired harvesters gather in gardens and divide up the harvesting tasks among themselves. Some climb citrus trees to reach the ripe citrus fruits on the branches, while others gather fruits on the ground, pack them into sacks, and then transport the sacks of fruits to the required stores. Thereafter, a prototype was developed using a design science approach, and a field-oriented algorithm (FOC) was used to set power and torque during the programming of the actuators for speed regulations. After that, the validation process of the robot was determined by using a stopwatch such that to calculate the time it takes for the developed system to carry out the tasks successfully while in the field and the results showed that it picked up six citruses (6) fruits in five seconds (5 sec) from the ground per two (2) revolutions of the picking mechanism. Compared to hand harvesting, the prototype's storage capacity findings showed that it could only hold forty (40) citrus fruits, which were filled in 33.4 seconds, maximizing harvesting efficiency. And this was achieved by getting 6 citrus fruits collected per two revolutions divided by the 40 which is the maximum storage capacity that was determined after the robot loading for 6 rounds as shown below in the full load capacity = (40/6 = 6.67kgs), then during the study, the time it takes to load to full capacity = 6.67 * 5 = 33.4 seconds. Therefore, this research is highly recommended to citrus farmers in Soroti such that low labor, high quality, and less time are achieved by farmers during harvesting. Robot harvesting algorithms DOF prototype Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4277555","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":300155367,"identity":"f38b582d-582a-41d5-88d2-777035fd9951","order_by":0,"name":"Nasasira Jossy","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kampala International University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nasasira","middleName":"","lastName":"Jossy","suffix":""},{"id":300155369,"identity":"9696e03b-2bb1-4957-98de-d799e91d68e1","order_by":1,"name":"Umezuruike Chinechere","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bowen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Umezuruike","middleName":"","lastName":"Chinechere","suffix":""},{"id":300155372,"identity":"0690c137-b1ef-4e96-a75f-e4767faf6951","order_by":2,"name":"Afam Uzorka","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDAC5gMQWgLCkpAhrIUtAaYFzJLgIUULjwGIJqyFv4356WaePzb5ku1nPr+6UWPBw8B++OgGfFokjrGZ3ebhSbOczZO7zTrnGNBhPGlpN/Bac78BqEXisIEcQ+424xw2oBYJHjO8WuSPsX+7zWMA1ML/5plxzj8itBgc4wHaknDYQFoih/lxbhsRWgyP8ZTdnHMgzUByxjMz5tw+CR42Qn6RO8a+7cabPzYGEueTH3/O+VYnx89++Bh+7yMBNgkwSaxyEGD+QIrqUTAKRsEoGDkAAMHAQ56pbG/BAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Kampala International University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Afam","middleName":"","lastName":"Uzorka","suffix":""},{"id":300155375,"identity":"8fa575f9-4bee-4f5c-bb47-385aca3a5ead","order_by":3,"name":"Yuma Erick","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kampala International University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuma","middleName":"","lastName":"Erick","suffix":""},{"id":300155378,"identity":"34809fe8-b1bb-4b31-a8fa-5a980bbaa214","order_by":4,"name":"Balyejusa Gusite","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kampala International University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Balyejusa","middleName":"","lastName":"Gusite","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-04-16 17:18:00","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4277555/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4277555/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":64761778,"identity":"f29c5df4-0c7b-4dfe-bbe1-4fcc93368828","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-09-18 13:11:21","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":991029,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SUPERVISEDROBOTIC.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4277555/v1_covered_41d52a22-bed0-49d3-879b-3bc84d61de91.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Development of a Supervised Robotic Prototype for Citrus Harvesting","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Robot, harvesting, algorithms, DOF, prototype","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4277555/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4277555/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCitrus harvesting has been done manually for the past Sixty-Two (62) years in Eastern Uganda, where commercial citrus cultivation started in the 1960s. Farmers use employees to help in harvesting so that fruits can be picked on schedule. At this point, the hired harvesters gather in gardens and divide up the harvesting tasks among themselves. Some climb citrus trees to reach the ripe citrus fruits on the branches, while others gather fruits on the ground, pack them into sacks, and then transport the sacks of fruits to the required stores. Thereafter, a prototype was developed using a design science approach, and a field-oriented algorithm (FOC) was used to set power and torque during the programming of the actuators for speed regulations. After that, the validation process of the robot was determined by using a stopwatch such that to calculate the time it takes for the developed system to carry out the tasks successfully while in the field and the results showed that it picked up six citruses (6) fruits in five seconds (5 sec) from the ground per two (2) revolutions of the picking mechanism. Compared to hand harvesting, the prototype's storage capacity findings showed that it could only hold forty (40) citrus fruits, which were filled in 33.4 seconds, maximizing harvesting efficiency. And this was achieved by getting 6 citrus fruits collected per two revolutions divided by the 40 which is the maximum storage capacity that was determined after the robot loading for 6 rounds as shown below in the full load capacity = (40/6\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;6.67kgs), then during the study, the time it takes to load to full capacity\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;6.67 * 5\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;33.4 seconds. Therefore, this research is highly recommended to citrus farmers in Soroti such that low labor, high quality, and less time are achieved by farmers during harvesting.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Development of a Supervised Robotic Prototype for Citrus Harvesting","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-05-13 02:25:03","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4277555/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"50e2e45a-8c05-4338-ab17-331c529b9456","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 13th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-09-18T13:03:14+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-05-13 02:25:03","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4277555","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4277555","identity":"rs-4277555","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}