Development of a robotic transplanter for bedding plants

This study was carried out to develop a robotic transplanter for bedding pl ants. The transplanter consisted of a manipulator, an end-effector, plug tr ay conveyors and a vision system. The manipulator consisted of two electric al linear motors. It was used to move the end-effector to the desired worki ng position. The end-effector, which picks up a seedling from a high-densit y plug tray and moves it to a low-density growing tray, comprises two air c ylinders and fingers. The conveyors, which move the plug trays to the desir ed position, were driven by servomotors. The vision system was used to iden tify empty cells and to reduce transplanting time. The transplanter develop ed in this research was tested with a range of seedling type, growth stage, growing medium and moisture content, and produced good transplanting perfo rmance. (C) 2001 Silsoe Research Institute.