Design and Performance Analysis of a Silicone-Based Fin-ray Soft Gripper for Intelligent Tomato Harvesting

As a key process in agricultural production, the demand for high-efficiency and high-quality tomato harvesting is continuously rising with the rapid advancement of smart agriculture. However, conventional rigid manipulators often fail to meet the needs of intelligent harvesting due to the limitations of adaptability, dexterity, and safety. To address these challenges, this study proposes a silicone-based fin-ray soft gripper inspired by bio-mimetic fin structures. The gripper is designed to adaptively deform when grasping tomatoes, thereby enhancing grip stability while minimizing mechanical damage. The grippers mechanical performance is evaluated through SolidWorks modeling and built-in simulation analysis. Static analysis result shows uniform stress distribution, free-end displacement for adaptability, and controlled strain along ribs, confirming its flexibility and reliability under load conditions. Additionally, a closed-loop control system integrated with tactile sensors is developed to enable adaptive force regulation, further improving the intelligence of the harvesting process. The stress, displacement, and strain analyses demonstrate that under a 30N load, the designed gripper exhibits uniform stress distribution, excellent flexibility, and favorable mechanical properties. Compared to conventional grippers, this design offers significant improvements in notable flexibility, safety, and operational efficiency. This research provides an innovative end-effector solution for tomato-harvesting robots and serves as a valuable technical reference for the automated harvesting of other crops. It further demonstrates the significant application potential and scalability of agricultural harvesting grippers.