Design of IoT based Mechatronic Module for Real Time Yield Monitoring During Harvesting of Greenhouse Produce and Vineyards

Abstract

Grape farmers are always underpaid by traders for their farm produce, due to the lack of precise assessment of the quality and quantity of the yield. After assessment of yield in grape vineyards, traders make part payment to the farmers and the balance amount is paid after the harvest is delivered to the market. The vineyard produce is damaged in terms of quality and quantity, by the time it reaches the market, due to reasons such as harvesting by inexperienced and unskilled laborers, labor shortage, physical damage during transit, etc. The work presented in this paper addresses the above-mentioned challenges through a custom-designed IoT-equipped Mechatronic module for real-time assessment of the yield of grapefruits harvested. The IoT-based weighing system is mounted on the robotic arm along with an integrated gripper cum cutter in order to monitor the weight of each harvested fruit and store the data on a server using the Internet. Field experiments were conducted during winter 2021 in the Pune district of Maharashtra and various greenhouse products were harvested like Bell Pepper, Long Chili Pepper, Bitter Melon, Guava, Eggplant, Okra in laboratory tests and Grapes in vineyards. The average weight of the variety of harvested fruits varies from 15 to 500 grams. This Precision Agriculture technology has reported an improved yield in terms of increased fruit shelf life. The developed system is tested and validated at ICAR-National Research Centre for Grapes, Pune. IoT implementation allows farmers to track various farm activities, and it helps to improve productivity in terms of yield, thus saving precious time and labor cost.