Design of a Dual-Arm Robotic Harvesting System with Rigid-Flexible Coupling Arm

This study proposes a novel dual-arm robotic system for tomato harvesting in greenhouses, addressing challenges of environmental adaptability, picking efficiency, and system incompleteness. The system features a rigid-flexible coupling picking manipulator (RFCPM) with a continuum arm, enhanced by a continuous falling path design inspired by free fall principles. Integrated with a hollow channel, conveyor, and layered storage, it enables efficient picking and post-harvest processing. Kinematic modeling and workspace analysis were conducted to clarify the kinematic characteristics of the manipulator. Experimental results demonstrate a 76.9% picking success rate with an average time of 8.19s per fruit.