Design and evaluation of a gripper for bunches of bananas in a supermarket environment

Master thesis (2022)

Authors

A.G. van der Star Mechanical Engineering

Contributors

J.L. Herder Precision and Microsystems Engineering (mentor)
A.E. Huisjes Mechatronic Systems Design - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (graduation committee member)
Faculty
Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Copyright: © 2022 Anne van der Star
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Published Date

24-10-2022

Language

English

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Faculty

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

In this paper the first gripper that can grasp bunches of bananas is presented. Bunches of bananas are difficult to grasp by a mechanical gripper, as they vary in size and shape and are sensitive to damage caused by mechanical impact. In former research, single bananas have been grasped with pinching- or granular grippers. The gripper proposed in this paper grasps the bunch at its most sturdy part, namely its tip, and uses a hook finger to minimize the chances on damage. The scissoring fingers allow the gripper to handle the variability of the object. Additionally, the scissoring combined with the funnel shaped finger tips ensure that the gripper compensates the position errors of robotic systems. In the evaluation of its abilities the gripper is able to pick up 19 out of 19 bunches of bananas. It has a tolerance for a maximum positioning error of 4.9 cm and causes only minor damage on the peduncles of the bananas. In practical experiments, the gripper performed adequately and showed to be able to cooperate with the object to guide itself to the right location. The novel strategies of hook gripping and the extra degree of freedom of the compliant X-joint show that bunches of bananas can be grasped mechanically, while compensating for some of the shortcomings of current robotic systems.