Autonomous harvester for cilantro with bunching and tying capability

This project aims to develop the first automated robotic harvester for cilantro and other specialty crops that are harvested in bunches. In the U.S. it costs a farmer approximately $5000 to harvest an acre of cilantro half of it devoted to personnel. Padma AgRobotic's machine will drastically improve the productivity per worker bringing the cost of a harvested acre down to $2500. More importantly the robot will help tackling the severe workforce issues currently affecting the agricultural sector. This will permit to grow produce that is nowadays economically unviable thus reducing the need to import certain essential vegetables thus making US internationally more competitive. To our knowledge no such system exists in the market in spite of the growing need. This Phase II seeks to advance the current version of the technology (version 1) with a focus on optimizing the initial design and building a fully integrated cilantro harvester (version 2) ready to be commercialized. The specific project objectives are: design and build a ground-based cilantro accumulation and feeder system; develop a semi-autonomous mobile platform; develop a label inserter and integrate the tying unit; integrate the cutting and transporter unit; and build multiple harvester arms and conveyor belt for transportation. This proposal addresses the Topic Area 8.13 "Plant Production and Protection (Engineering)" specifically its Research Priority 1. "Improved Crop Production Methods or Strategies" and its topics a. "Technologies that enhance commercial horticulture production" b. "Production harvesting and postharvest handling of specialty crops" and c. "Cyber-physical systems to support precision agriculture".