Evaluation of End Effectors for Robotic Harvesting of Mango Fruit

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

1. It is suggested that the authors add to the discussion and summarize the conclusions.

2. Some formatting issues need to be revised. Such as the table line type display problem and the thickness.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

1. Chapter 3.1 Metrics should be a part of the chapter 2. Material and
Methods.
2. Only little attention is paid to the mechanical properties of the mango.
It should be the starting point of the end effector/fingers design however.
3. The durability and life of the soft finger parts is an important feature
of the design. Were they considered/evaluated in long term test?

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The article is written in a poorly readable manner. The theoretical foundation and knowledge of the subject's literature are high.  The research methodology was selected accurately. Language correctness stands at a low level. Many stylistic and punctuation errors include a lack of cohesion and improper use of commas and prepositions. In many cases, singular verbs do not agree with plural compound subjects. Noun phrases miss determiners. Inconsistent spelling. The description of the research results should be revised and the final conclusions should be completed.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

This is a very well-organised research paper on the evaluation of end-effectors for fruit harvesting. It is suitable for publication after addressing the following issues.

1. Does a large contact area and grasp volume always guarantee a more stable grasping motion for the mango? 

2. Increasing the number of fingers on the gripper may cause collisions between branches while operating in the natural orchard. Research has been conducted to apply tactile information on the gripper to do branch slip detection and manipulation. With 6 fingers on the gripper, will this gripper face similar challenges in the orchard?

Zhou, H., Kang, H., Wang, X., Au, W., Wang, M.Y. and Chen, C., 2023. Branch interference sensing and handling by tactile enabled robotic apple harvesting. Agronomy, 13(2), p.503.

Zhou, H., Xiao, J., Kang, H., Wang, X., Au, W. and Chen, C., 2022. Learning-based slip detection for robotic fruit grasping and manipulation under leaf interference. Sensors, 22(15), p.5483.

3. I think it is worth doing a grasping experiment to study the maximum force that the gripper should apply before any mongo is damaged. This can potentially help avoid damage during orchard operation.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

The article has been completed, revised according to previous comments.