Harvester: Precise and maintenance-free

Profile

• What was needed: iglidur plain bearings, igubal spherical bearings, easy chain energy chains
• Requirements: As the strawberries are very delicate, the robot arms must harvest them carefully, evenly and slowly. The bearing technology therefore had to allow precise movement.
• Industry: Agriculture
• Success for the customer: Over 100 plain bearings and a variety of energy chains enable precise harvesting operations. They are also maintenance-free and cost-effective.

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Problem

The AGROBOT SW6010 harvester is a harvesting machine for picking strawberries. Robot arms with cages for picking up the strawberries move above the ground, cut off the ripe fruit, pick it up and finally place it in a basket system. This is done with the help of dozens of bearings that guarantee the correct positioning of the gripper arms when cutting takes place. Moving the cages to collect the strawberries also means that flexible cable routing is required for power and data. As the strawberry is a particularly delicate and impact-sensitive fruit, previous systems were particularly slow in their movement.

Solution

The solution was found in iglidur plain bearings. Today, more than 100 of these plain bearings are used in the harvesting machine and help the robot arms to reach their cutting position on the individual strawberry within a few seconds. In addition, the system only picks ripe strawberries. The opening mechanism of the cage on the gripper arm for passing the fruit through consists of two symmetrical valves that are anchored to the respective axes of rotation. The strawberries are then placed very gently in the containers for storage. igubal spherical bearings enable the robot arm to slide with the cage and ensure smooth, low-wear and particularly precise movement. A large number of easy chain energy chains guarantee the safe and flexible routing of cables for power and signals to the individual robot arms.