A Literature Review and Design Considerations Towards a Gripper for Tomato Harvesting

The paper reviews current commercial and research solutions in the field of grippers for automated tomato harvesting. The gripping devices are classified according to the method of harvesting tomatoes, namely individual fruits and branches. The requirements that the design of a gripping device for harvesting tomatoes must satisfy are formulated also based on preliminary laboratory tests. The requirements include the mechanical properties of the tomatoes and the required characteristics of the gripping device. A preliminary design concept is also proposed for harvesting tomatoes with a specific focus on the large-size tomato varieties.