Method and apparatus for automated operations, such as pruning, harvesting, spraying and/or maintenance, on plants, and particularly plants with foliage having features on many length scales or a wide spectrum of length scales, such as female flower buds of the marijuana plant. The invention utilizes a convolutional neural network for image segmentation classification and/or the determination of features. The foliage is imaged stereoscopically to produce a three-dimensional surface image, a first neural network determines regions to be operated on, and a second neural network determines how an operation tool operates on the foliage. For pruning of resinous foliage the cutting tool is heated or cooled to avoid having the resins make the cutting tool inoperable.

A vegetation pruning device includes a pair of pivotably coupled handles and a motor having a rotary output drive for driving an endless flexible cutting chain. A guard is moved relative to the chain by pivoting of the handles relative to each other to grip vegetation between the guard and the chain. The motor is actuated by pressing each of a pair of elongate triggers at any position along the length of the triggers.

A work implement is provided with a tool that has an opening. A housing part is provided and a stud bolt is screwed into the housing part. The stud bolt fastens the tool to the housing part. The stud bolt projects axially away from the housing part and projects at least partially into the opening of the tool. A transmission element is provided for transmitting transverse forces, acting transversely to the axial direction, from the tool to the stud bolt. The transmission element is a first element made at least partially of a first material with modulus of elasticity of 1 GPa to 80 GPa, or the transmission element is a second element with a spring element at least partially made of a second material with modulus of elasticity of larger than 80 GPa and with a free space for a spring travel of the spring element.

An agricultural leaf stripper which can adopt numerous configurations allowing leaf stripping of bushes and trees of varying shapes and sizes consists of a structure capable of being transported along a horizontal axis parallel to the ground and consisting of a structure formed of two parts one of which is fixed to the transporter vehicle and the other of which can slide vertically on the fixed part and supports a rectilinear rail generally parallel to the structure and able to be moved horizontally towards and away from the structure and tilted with respect thereto, the rail carrying at least two pneumatic leaf stripping heads, each stripping head being able to be set to a desired position on the rail independently of the other leaf stripping heads, and each being able to be set to a desired orientation about its working axis on the rail.

The present disclosure provides a transmission assembly and a garden tool. The transmission assembly is configured to connect a drive assembly and a garden work assembly. The transmission assembly comprises a casing and a first transmission component and a second transmission component accommodated in the casing; the first transmission component and the second transmission component are engaged with each other; the first transmission component comprises a first gear and a second gear engaged with each other; a gear shaft of the first gear is disposed at an angle with respect to a gear shaft of the second gear; and the second transmission component comprises a third gear able to rotate coaxially with the second gear and a fourth gear engaged with the third gear. With two levels of transmission components provided in the transmission assembly of the present disclosure, the output power of the garden tool can be controlled effectively, and the cost for using and producing the garden tool of the present disclosure are reduced while ensuring that the garden tool can be used normally.

The present invention shows an apparatus for trimming plants, specifically assisting with the process of separating leaves and buds from the stem and branches of the plant. The apparatus is composed by an iris mechanism with blades that automatically close around a plant stem when the plant stem is inserted into the apparatus. In a further arrangement, the iris mechanism automatically opens once the plant stem has been processed.

The present invention provides a management system for autonomous unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) fleet management for harvesting or diluting fruits, and a computerized method for optimal harvesting using a UAV fleet.

Embodiments of the present invention pertain to a plant trimming machine. Plants are placed in a tumbler. As the tumbler rotates, leaves are sucked through the tumbler by a vacuum assembly and cut by at least one rotatable blade adjacent to the tumbler. The tumbler and blade are housed in separate cartridges so that they can be easily removed and inserted. Thereby, it is relatively easy to clean and replace a tumbler or blade with minimal downtime to the machine.

A pruning system includes a cutting head comprising upper and lower cutting rings positioned along a bottom portion of one or more tubes. At least one of the cutting rings is adapted to rotate in a circular motion, while the other cutting ring may be adapted to remain stationary. A vacuum may be applied to suction target plant material, and the cutting head may be lowered toward the target plant material. As adjacent blades from the upper and lower cutting rings are separated in an open position, plant material may be collected in the opening defined by the adjacent blades of the cutting rings. As the blades converge, the opening may close, and plant material collected in the opening may be severed from the plant. System variables, such as blade orientation, vacuum speed, blade rotation speed, barrel size, and the cutting mechanisms, may be adjusted to accommodate different types of plant material. The pruning system may be installed on a vehicle and used with a vision system to remove materials from plant beds in a field.

Electric pruning shears include: a first blade including a first blade portion that cuts an object to be cut and a first support base portion extended in a direction different from the first blade portion as viewed from the pivot portion; and the second blade including a second blade portion that cuts the object to be cut by sandwiching the object to be cut together with the first blade portion and a second support base portion extended in a direction different from the second blade portion as viewed from the pivot portion. The first blade portion is a convex curved blade with an intermediate portion from the pivot portion side to a distal end convexed, and the second blade portion is a concave curved blade with an intermediate portion from the pivot portion side to a distal end concaved. A bevel angle of the second blade portion gradually becomes obtuse from the pivot portion side to the distal end. At least one of the first support base portion and the second support base portion is connected to a power transmitter that transmits power from a drive source that is electrically driven. With this configuration, electric pruning shears capable of satisfactorily performing cutting without blade slippage even when the object to be cut is a thick branch, thereby making it possible to improve user’s satisfaction.