Design of a laser stem-cutting device for harvesting robot

Since traditional detaching methods have shortfalls in practice, a laser stem-cutting device for fruit harvesting robot was designed, which includes a laser generation and control unit and an actuating mechanism. A 30 W high-power fiber-coupled laser diode is selected, and it is supplied with a lithium battery whose gradually-dropped voltage is turned to constant-current by a constant-current supply circuit. In the protection/control circuit, two-step slow start of the laser diode is achieved by a RC delay circuit and a delay relay circuit. To cut stems off, the focusing lens installed on the end-effector of harvesting robot and connected with the laser by a fiber is driven by a Maxon mini DC motor through a bearing structure. Experiments indicate that this device works well and effectively.

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