ERASMUS+ KA171: New Insights from the project

Posted by MaLLat

In a recent study published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, we addressed a key challenge in agricultural robotics: how to gently and accurately assess fruit ripeness and size during automated harvesting and handling.

We developed a robotic manipulator equipped with integrated flexible tactile sensing arrays, designed to capture detailed contact information while interacting with delicate kiwifruit.

Our approach combines:

• A soft, sensorized gripper structure for safe physical interaction.

• High-resolution flexible tactile sensor arrays to measure pressure distribution and surface features.

• Data-driven classification models for ripeness and size estimation.

Key Findings

• The integrated tactile arrays provide precise, repeatable measurements without damaging the fruit.

• Pressure-pattern features enable reliable classification of both ripeness stages and fruit size.

• The proposed manipulator demonstrates strong potential for deployment in automated sorting, harvesting, and quality-control systems.

This work contributes to safer human-robot interaction in agriculture and to more efficient, quality-aware fruit handling.

The study is available here: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c12158