Modular Soft Gripper for Harvesting Medium-Sized Crops Shows Promising Results

Strategic Insights -

A team of researchers from Centre for Automation and Robotics has made significant progress in developing a novel modular hexagonal soft gripper for automating delicate tasks such as fruit harvesting. The soft gripper, which incorporates soft pneumatic actuators and embedded mechano-optical force sensors, is capable of detaching fruits with rigid peduncles, which require cutting. Experimental validation demonstrates successful harvesting of bell peppers and identifies cutting limitations in tougher crops such as aubergine.

Key Takeaways:

  • The novel modular hexagonal soft gripper is designed to integrate soft pneumatic actuators, embedded mechano-optical force sensors, and a self-centering iris-type cutting mechanism.
  • The gripper is 3D-printed, enabling low-cost fabrication and rapid customization.
  • Experimental validation demonstrates successful harvesting of bell peppers.
  • Cutting limitations are identified in tougher crops such as aubergine, primarily due to material constraints in the actuation system.
  • The design contributes to the development of multifunctional robotic harvesters capable of adapting to a wide range of fruit types with minimal requirements for perception and mechanical reconfiguration.
  • Researchers at Centre for Automation and Robotics, including Eduardo Navas, Kai Blanco, Daniel Rodriguez-Nieto, and Roemi Fernandez, conducted the research.
  • The research highlights the potential of soft robotics in automating delicate tasks in agriculture.

Statistics:

  • 14 (ACTUATORS 2025) is the volume and issue number of the journal article.
  • 432 is the page number of the journal article.
  • 2025 is the year the research was published.
  • 3D-printing enables low-cost fabrication and rapid customization of the soft gripper.
  • 90% of agricultural labor in the European Union is migrant workers, highlighting the need for automation in agriculture (EU Parliament, 2019)^1.
  • 22% of agricultural production is lost due to inaccurate or inefficient harvesting methods (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2017)^2.

Sources:

  • A Modular Soft Gripper with Embedded Force Sensing and an Iris-Type Cutting Mechanism for Harvesting Medium-Sized Crops. Actuators, 2025,14(9):432. (Actuators - http://www.mdpi.com/journal/actuators).
  • NewsRx. Research on Actuator Research Reported by Researchers at Centre for Automation and Robotics. Journal of Engineering. October 13, 2025; p 3505.
  • EU Parliament. (2019). Labour migration in the European Union.
  • Food and Agriculture Organization. (2017). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World.