A novel pollination robot for kiwifruit flower based on preferential flowers selection and precisely target

Manual pollination of kiwifruit flowers is a labor-intensive work that is highly desired to be replaced by mechanical/robotic operations. In this application note, a pollination robot was developed for achieving precision pollination of kiwifruit flowers in orchard. The pollination robot consists of five systems include vision system, air-liquid spray system, mechanical arm, crawler-type chassis, and control system, which could select suitable flowers and then target to their pistil for precision pollination. Field experiments were conducted in a commercial kiwifruit orchard to evaluate its feasibility and performance, which achieved an average pollination success rate of 99.3% with an average fruit set rate of 88.5%. Furthermore, compared to artificial assisted pollination methods, it could improve utilization rate of kiwifruit pollen with an average consumption of 0.15 g in 60 flowers. The validations demonstrated that this pollination robot could achieve efficient pollination for kiwifruit flowers and save pollen.