Vision-guided robotic bucking cell

Hand-bucking quality for dried cannabis harvests. Machine vision finds every bucking point; a pneumatic nipper severs the stem above the bud, so the flower never takes the load. An operator loads branches — the cell does the rest.

Principle of operation

Cut, not pull. Shears sever the stem; the bud is never dragged through a plate.
Per-bud targeting. Each cut point is found and confidence-scored individually.
Bottom-up sequencing. Cleared stem never blocks the next cut.
Re-scan after every cut, with branch rotation for access to all sides.
Hang-once handling. Branches ride an overhead carrier from load to bare-stem eject.

Vision

Close-range	End-effector camera + macro lens, backlit target
Workspace	Basler stereo rig — live 3D depth map
Detection	Trained bud / cut-point model, confidence-scored
Depth use	Depth-validated clusters; distance-aware approach
Adaptation	Built-in annotation + retraining on your cultivars

Motion & cutting

Arm	UFACTORY xArm collaborative arm
End-effector	VESSEL pneumatic air nipper, replaceable blades
Approach	Two-phase: fast travel, gentle final plunge
Travel speed	Up to 800 mm/s between targets
Blade change	Operator-serviceable consumable, spares on hand

Controls & software

Interface	Browser-served from the cell over your LAN
Installs	None · no license server · no cloud dependency
Operator mode	START / STOP / HOME / backlight
Engineering view	Live feeds, cut queue, jog, calibration, console
Simulate	Replays full sequences on recorded branches
Logging	Per-cut counts, timing and session throughput

Facility requirements

Power	Standard outlet · draw TBD
Air	Small compressor for the shears — no plant air
Footprint	dimensions pending production frame
Network	LAN or Wi-Fi for the browser interface
Civil works	None — no drains, no three-phase, no construction
Staffing	One loader, no specialist operator

Material

Intended	Dried branches (dry-buck step)
Presentation	Hung from carrier, as dried — no re-orientation
Cultivars	Retrainable per strain; tuned during pilot
Output	Whole buds; bare stem auto-ejected

Throughput

Rate per cell	to be published from pilot data
Our position	No throughput figure until measured over full shifts on customer material

Configurations

Tier 01 · minimumTwo-station cell Two arms on one overhead carrier loop. Smallest system sold. One loader.

Tier 02 · throughputFour-station cell Four arms on the same loop and footprint class. Field-upgradable from Tier 01.

Tier 03 · room-linkedWhole-room conveyor Track extends into the dry room — hang once at harvest, continuous feed to the arms.

Fall 2026 pilot programme. Before a system is sold, it is proven on your material: the cell runs in your facility for your harvest window, operated by our technicians and priced as a service, with no capital purchase. Every number measured — pounds per hour, labour cost per pound, damage rate, uptime — is yours to keep, and the pilot fee credits toward a system if you convert. Results are published only with your approval.