Motion Control of a Citrus-Picking Robot

Abstract: A robotic mechanism was developed to locate and remove citrus fruit (specifically oranges) from the tree, individually. The system uses color vision for finding the fruit and "pointing" the actuator toward the fruit. It continues with an ultrasonic sensor to measure the distance from the end-effector to the object. The real-time motion control algorithms which control the three servo-axes of the robot to point the picking actuator toward the fruit and to extend the actuator toward the fruit. When the fruit is determined to be within the picking range of the robot, the picking mechanism is actuated to grip the fruit and the fruit is removed from the tree. Dissertation Discovery Company and University of Florida are dedicated to making scholarly works more discoverable and accessible throughout the world. This dissertation, "Motion Control of a Citrus-Picking Robot" by Thomas Alan Pool, was obtained from University of Florida and is being sold with permission from the author. A digital copy of this work may also be found in the university's institutional repository, IR@UF. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation.