Research progress and prospect of key technologies of fruit target recognition for robotic fruit picking

Front Plant Sci. 2024 Dec 6:15:1423338. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1423338. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

It is crucial for robotic picking fruit to recognize fruit accurately in orchards, this paper reviews the applications and research results of target recognition in orchard fruit picking by using machine vision and emphasizes two methods of fruit recognition: the traditional digital image processing method and the target recognition method based on deep learning. Here, we outline the research achievements and progress of traditional digital image processing methods by the researchers aiming at different disturbance factors in orchards and summarize the shortcomings of traditional digital image processing methods. Then, we focus on the relevant contents of fruit target recognition methods based on deep learning, including the target recognition process, the preparation and classification of the dataset, and the research results of target recognition algorithms in classification, detection, segmentation, and compression acceleration of target recognition network models. Additionally, we summarize the shortcomings of current orchard fruit target recognition tasks from the perspectives of datasets, model applicability, universality of application scenarios, difficulty of recognition tasks, and stability of various algorithms, and look forward to the future development of orchard fruit target recognition.

Keywords: deep learning; fruit; machine vision; robotic picking; target recognition.

Publication types

  • Systematic Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Jiangsu Province Agricultural Machinery Equipment and Technology Demonstration and Extension Project (NJ2023-13), the Jiangsu Modern Agriculture (PEAR) Industrial Technology System Agricultural Machinery Equipment Innovation Team (JATS[2023]440) and Nanjing Modern Agricultural Machinery Equipment and Technology Innovation Demonstration Project (NJ [2022]07).