In this work we develop a real time system that recognizes occluded green apples within a tree canopy using infra-red and color images in order to achieve automated harvesting. Infra-red provides clues regarding the physical structure and location of the apples based on their temperature (leaves accumulate less heat and radiate faster than apples), while color images provide evidence of circula...

In this work we develop a novel approach for the automatic recognition of red Fuji apples within a tree canopy using three distinguishable color models in order to achieve automated harvesting. How to select the recognition model is important for the certain intelligent harvester employed to perform in real orchards. The L*a*b color model, HSI (Hue, Saturation and Intensity) color model and LCD...

In plants, carbon source-sink relationships are assumed to affect their reproductive effort. In fruit trees, carbon source-sink relationships are likely to be involved in their fruiting behavior. In apple, a large variability in fruiting behaviors exists, from regular to biennial, which has been related to the within-tree synchronization vs desynchronization of floral induction in buds. In this...

Irregular flowering and biennial bearing are challenging in many apple ( Malus × domestica ) cultivars such as Honeycrisp. Apple is influenced by factors including crop load, fruit weight, seed number, bourse shoot length. However, it unclear how these exert their control. We investigated ‘Honeycrisp’ whether flower formation regulated locally within the spur or if under control of whole tree s...

Electronic canopy characterization is an important issue in tree crop management. Ultrasonic and optical sensors are the most used for this purpose. The objective of this work was to assess the performance of an ultrasonic sensor under laboratory and field conditions in order to provide reliable estimations of distance measurements to apple tree canopies. To this purpose, a methodology has been...

Wherever the garden of Eden may have been located, most people believe that the development of the modern apple is the result of hybridisations through the centuries of cultivation with wild species growing in Europe and elsewhere. But work carried out at the University of Oxford suggests an entirely different provenance for the apple: a remote and remarkable valley region on the borders of Kaz...