Design of a Novel End-Effector for Robotic Bag Removal of Shiitake Mushroom Logs

According to agronomic requirements, the bag removal of shiitake mushroom logs should be carried out promptly during factory production. However, the current manual bag removal process is time-consuming and labor-intensive, limiting the development of the shiitake mushroom industry. Robotic bag removal is the best solution to this problem. In this paper, firstly, a novel robotic bag removal method was proposed, measuring and analyzing the biomechanical parameters of shiitake mushroom logs. It was determined that the maximum normal stress that does not cause damage when gripping the logs is 455.56 N. Secondly, a novel bag removal end-effector was designed, including a gripping mechanism and a vacuum sponge sucker mechanism. Thirdly, a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm combined with numerical simulation was used to optimize the suction hole layout and vacuum degree of the vacuum sponge sucker, reducing the maximum deformation and overall deformation of the bag during the bag removal process by 36.11 % and 56.23 %, respectively. Furthermore, a robotic bag removal test bench was built using the designed bag removal end-effector. The test results showed a bag removal success rate of 87.04 % and a gripping damage rate of 0 %, proving the effectiveness and feasibility of this method. The designed end-effector has high potential for integration into a robot to support the bag removal process of shiitake mushroom logs in factory-based production.