Optimal Scheduling of a Dual-Arm Robot for Efficient Strawberry Harvesting in Plant Factories

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhu, Yuankai, Lu, Wenwu, Ren, Guoqiang, Ying, Yibin, Vougioukas, Stavros, Peng, Chen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866912468507295744
author Zhu, Yuankai
Lu, Wenwu
Ren, Guoqiang
Ying, Yibin
Vougioukas, Stavros
Peng, Chen
author_facet Zhu, Yuankai
Lu, Wenwu
Ren, Guoqiang
Ying, Yibin
Vougioukas, Stavros
Peng, Chen
contents Plant factory cultivation is widely recognized for its ability to optimize resource use and boost crop yields. To further increase the efficiency in these environments, we propose a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) framework that systematically schedules and coordinates dual-arm harvesting tasks, minimizing the overall harvesting makespan based on pre-mapped fruit locations. Specifically, we focus on a specialized dual-arm harvesting robot and employ pose coverage analysis of its end effector to maximize picking reachability. Additionally, we compare the performance of the dual-arm configuration with that of a single-arm vehicle, demonstrating that the dual-arm system can nearly double efficiency when fruit densities are roughly equal on both sides. Extensive simulations show a 10-20% increase in throughput and a significant reduction in the number of stops compared to non-optimized methods. These results underscore the advantages of an optimal scheduling approach in improving the scalability and efficiency of robotic harvesting in plant factories.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_04240
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Optimal Scheduling of a Dual-Arm Robot for Efficient Strawberry Harvesting in Plant Factories
Zhu, Yuankai
Lu, Wenwu
Ren, Guoqiang
Ying, Yibin
Vougioukas, Stavros
Peng, Chen
Robotics
Plant factory cultivation is widely recognized for its ability to optimize resource use and boost crop yields. To further increase the efficiency in these environments, we propose a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) framework that systematically schedules and coordinates dual-arm harvesting tasks, minimizing the overall harvesting makespan based on pre-mapped fruit locations. Specifically, we focus on a specialized dual-arm harvesting robot and employ pose coverage analysis of its end effector to maximize picking reachability. Additionally, we compare the performance of the dual-arm configuration with that of a single-arm vehicle, demonstrating that the dual-arm system can nearly double efficiency when fruit densities are roughly equal on both sides. Extensive simulations show a 10-20% increase in throughput and a significant reduction in the number of stops compared to non-optimized methods. These results underscore the advantages of an optimal scheduling approach in improving the scalability and efficiency of robotic harvesting in plant factories.
title Optimal Scheduling of a Dual-Arm Robot for Efficient Strawberry Harvesting in Plant Factories
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.04240