How much do you know about smart agriculture?

Is it precision data monitoring using GPS or remote sensing technology?

Is it automated harvesting based on the proliferation of automation and robotics?

Or is it crop health assessment systems that widely leverage AI technology?

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With the advancement of technology and the modernization of agriculture, smart agriculture has gradually become a new trend in the development of modern agriculture. Among its various processes, seedling cultivation plays a critical role in agricultural production, as its efficiency and quality directly affect crop growth and final yield.

A certain academy of agricultural sciences is actively conducting technological innovation in smart agriculture. In its large‑scale seedling cultivation experiments, it introduced the “SRT Plug Tray Transfer Total Solution” for the first time. By extensively applying soft robotics technology to the handling of seedling plug trays, the solution has not only greatly improved operational efficiency but also effectively protected the plug trays from damage, providing a strong backing for enhancing planting benefits.

Seedling Plug Tray

A container used for growing seedlings, typically made of plastic, with multiple small cells designed to hold seeds or seedlings.

Handling Specifications

45-cell plug tray / 50-cell plug tray

Product Characteristics

These containers are lightweight yet bulky, with a relatively fragile structure. Therefore, proper care must be taken during handling to avoid damage. Moreover, due to the large number of plug trays and their tight arrangement, other grippers often struggle to achieve smooth layer separation and experience noticeable material sticking during handling. In addition, manual operations are not only time‑consuming and labor‑intensive but also prone to errors. This calls for a solution that ensures both speed and safety to meet the demands of large‑scale seedling operations.

Product Model: NBM Dexterous Airbag Module

Application Scenario: Single‑layer handling of 45/50‑cell seedling plug trays

Solution Description: The solution consists of connectors, custom brackets, and multiple sets of airbag grippers. Each set of airbag grippers includes three NBM modules and their components. The system handles the plug tray primarily through four sets of airbag gripper modules.

Ambient conditions (greenhouse environment) and fluid temperature: –10°C to 60°C

Maximum operating frequency of the gripper: 180 cpm

Repeat positioning accuracy: ±0.1 mm

Actuation Mode: Multi‑point internal support gripping

General Features: The upper bracket of the gripper is shared. When changing to a different plug tray size, only the positions of the NBM modules need to be adjusted.

NBM Deformation Demonstration

Homework Display

Application Advantages

Flexible end-effectors are being increasingly used in smart agriculture, mainly because they can mimic the dexterity and sensitivity of the human hand, making them suitable for handling agricultural products of various shapes and sizes. In the handling of seedling plug trays, one of the notable advantages of the NBM module is its ability to achieve precise layer separation — i.e., when handling a single layer, it does not lift the underlying plug tray.

Efficient and Precise Handling

With flexible end-effectors, each plug tray can be quickly and accurately positioned and gripped, greatly improving overall work efficiency. Especially under the large‑scale planting conditions of smart agriculture, SRT’s flexible grippers are well‑suited for automated crop harvesting. Their starfish‑inspired design allows them to gently envelop fruits, ensuring that every fruit remains intact from field picking to factory packing.

Reduced Crop Damage

Compared with traditional methods, flexible end-effectors adapt better to plug trays and other agricultural products of various shapes, minimizing damage caused by improper handling.

Enhanced Adaptability

For non‑standard or easily damaged agricultural products (such as strawberries and tomatoes), flexible end-effectors can adjust their internal structure to better conform to the surface of the object, without the need for frequent equipment changes.

Support for Diverse Tasks

Beyond basic field harvesting, flexible end-effectors can also be used in various agricultural operations such as pesticide spraying / fertilization, fine processing of agricultural products, packing and cartoning, and more.

Outlook

In 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs put forward 13 key tasks and 8 major action plans to address the difficulties and bottlenecks in the development of smart agriculture. With their unique technological innovation advantages, flexible end-effectors continue to demonstrate great potential in the field of smart agriculture. As related technologies continue to mature and evolve, we believe that more innovative application scenarios will emerge, further driving modern agriculture toward greater intelligence.