Robotic fruit picking system

A method of selectively storing or punnetising fruit with the optimal flavour or quality by using a robotic fruit picking system comprising an autonomous robot that includes the following subsystems:

• a positioning subsystem configured to autonomously position the robot using a computer implemented guidance system, such as a computer vision guidance system;
• at least one picking arm;
• at least one picking head or other type of end effector, mounted on a picking arm to either cut a stem or branch for a specific fruit or bunch of fruits or pluck that fruit or bunch, and then transfer the fruit or bunch;
• a computer vision subsystem to analyse images of the fruit to be picked or stored;
• a storage subsystem for receiving picked fruit and storing that fruit in containers for storage or transportation, or in punnets for retail;
• and
• in which the end effector is configured to (a) grip a stem or stalk of a fruit or a bunch of fruits and (b) cut that stem or stalk and/or pluck that fruit or bunch;
• the end-effector being controlled by the computer vision subsystem to separate the edible and palatable part from at least part of the stem, branch or stalk without contacting the edible and palatable part;
• and in which the system is configured to estimate a statistical probability that a picking attempt will be successful by taking into account one or more of the following:
• estimated pose and shape of the target fruit and it's stem or stalk, uncertainty associated with the recovered pose and shape estimates, colour of the target fruit's surface, the proximity of detected obstacles, and the range of viewpoints from which the target fruit is visible, such that a fruit is picked when the estimated picking success is greater than a pre-defined threshold.