Robotic sod stacker
View Patent ↗A numerically-controlled robotic manipulator arm mounted to a sod harvester comprises two segments pivotally coupled together. One segment is rotatably coupled to a fixed base on the harvester while the second segment carries a pick-up head which can turn with respect to the segment. The pick-up head is capable of picking up, holding, and releasing sod rolls. The arm is programmable so that a variety of configurations of stacked sod rolls can be achieved.
1. An apparatus for cutting and stacking rolls of sod comprising:
a wheeled chassis for traversing a sod field;
a horizontal cutting mechanism for cutting a plurality of sod strips;
an accumulator configured to hold the plurality of sod strips;
a sod roller configured to roll the sod strips prior to transferring the sod to the accumulator;
a conveyor configured to transfer sod from the cutting mechanism to the accumulator;
a robotic arm configured to lift the plurality of sod strips from the accumulator to a sod storage location; and
a controller configured to control the actuation of the accumulator and the robotic arm, wherein the accumulator comprises a retractable portion which allows an operator to return a rejected sod roll to the sod field, and wherein the robotic arm comprises a horizontal pick-up head having a plurality of gripper modules, each gripper module comprising a concave stripper, and configured to engage a separate individual sod roll.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each gripper module comprises a pair of engageable fingers, the engageable fingers being configured to be rotatably positioned to engage a roll of sod positioned in the accumulator.
3. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the fingers are coupled to a gripper actuator, the gripper actuator having an extended position whereby the fingers are rotated into a position below said concave stripper.
4. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the fingers are coupled so as to cause the fingers to engage the separate sod rolls simultaneously.
5. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the horizontal pick-up head has a separator mechanism configured to cause movement of at least one gripper module with respect to another gripper module.
6. The apparatus according to claim 2 further comprising a controller configured to regulate the movement of the robotic arm.
7. The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the robotic arm is hydraulically driven and the controller is configured to control at least one hydraulic valve.
8. The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the controller is electronically coupled and configured to control the gripper modules.
9. The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the controller is coupled to a plurality of actuators which are configured to keep the horizontal pick-up head horizontal.
10. The apparatus according to claim 6 further comprising a pair of forks configured to support a pallet in the sod storage location, said controller configured to control the movement of the forks from the first pallet location to a second pallet location.