Development of a Handheld IoT-Based Fruit Harvester to support Agrotourism

Abstract

Agrotourism, a development in the tourism industry that can increase the economic potential of an area, offers many activities, such as fruit picking tours. Fruit picking, a crucial part of the harvesting process, involves separating fruits from plants to obtain economic value. However, several common mistakes during harvesting can damage the plants or branches. In this study, we developed a mechanical fruit harvester incorporated with the Internet of Things (IoT). The harvester has multiple functions, such as minimizing the damage to tree branches, monitoring the fruit productivity of each plant, and providing information on fruit weight and prices in real-time. The tool is equipped with a smartphone, several infrared and load sensors, a microcontroller, a cloud data logger, and a data analysis system. We tested the accuracy of the GPS on several smartphones while in agrotourism areas. The accuracy of the GPS on the harvesting tool is approximately 3 meters, and the success rate in calculating the number of fruits using the infrared sensor is 93.3 %, depending on the diameter of the fruit passing into the bucket. In addition, the harvester is equipped with a load sensor with a measurement deviation rate of 2.48%.