Automatic asparagus picking machine

• Main Authors: MONSION; MICHEL, BOUVET; CHRISTIAN, BOUSSEAU; GERARD, BAYLOU; PIERRE, MORA; ANDRE
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 17.01.1984
• Subjects: AGRICULTURE; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES; CONTROLLING; FISHING; FORESTRY; HAND TOOLS; HARVESTING; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HUNTING; MANIPULATORS; MOWING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; REGULATING; SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES; TRANSPORTING; TRAPPING

An automatic asparagus picking machine is disclosed comprising a chassis movable along a mound in which the asparagus are grown. The chassis has a picking tool which is mounted for horizontal and vertical translation at right angles to the direction of displacement of the chassis. The tops of the asparagus are back lit by a lighting system on one side of the mound and their images are picked up by a camera system on the other side. A microprocessor controls the direction of displacement of the chassis parallel to the mound and controls the horizontal and vertical translation of the picking tool. In one embodiment, there is one camera and the microprocessor has a window generator generating windows in two zones of the field of view of the camera. In another embodiment, juxtaposed wide angle and narrow angle cameras are used. Electric motors drive each of two front wheels at different speeds to control the direction of displacement of the machine.