AE-Automation and Emerging Technologies: Development of a Robotic Transplanter for Bedding Plants

This study was carried out to develop a robotic transplanter for bedding plants. The transplanter consisted of a manipulator, an endeffector, plug tray conveyors and a vision system. The manipulator consisted of two electrical linear motors. It was used to move the end-effector to the desired working position. The end-effector, which picks up a seedling from a high-density plug tray and moves it to a low-density growing tray, comprises two air cylinders and fingers. The conveyors, which move the plug trays to the desired position, were driven by servomotors. The vision system was used to identify empty cells and to reduce transplanting time. The transplanter developed in this research was tested with a range of seedling type, growth stage, growing medium and moisture content, and produced good transplanting performance.