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Analysis of institutional authors

Fernandez, RAuthor

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April 11, 2024
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Soft gripper for small fruits harvesting and pick and place operations

Publicated to: FRONTIERS IN ROBOTICS AND AI. 10 1330496- - 2024-01-18 10(), DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2023.1330496

Authors:

Navas, E; Shamshiri, RR; Dworak, V; Weltzien, C; Fernández, R
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Affiliations

CENTRO DE AUTOMAT. Y ROBOTICA (CAR). Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - Author
Leibniz Inst Agr Engn & Bioecon ATB - Author
Tech Univ Berlin, Agromechatron - Author
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - Author
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Abstract

Agriculture 4.0 presents several challenges for the automation of various operations, including the fundamental task of harvesting. One of the crucial aspects in the automatic harvesting of high value crops is the grip and detachment of delicate fruits without spoiling them or interfering with the environment. Soft robotic systems, particularly soft grippers, offer a promising solution for this problem, as they can operate in unstructured environments, manipulate objects delicately, and interact safely with humans. In this context, this article presents a soft gripper design for harvesting as well as for pick-and-place operations of small and medium-sized fruits. The gripper is fabricated using the 3D printing technology with a flexible thermoplastic elastomer filament. This approach enables the production of an economical, compact, easily replicable, and interchangeable gripper by utilizing soft robotics principles, such as flexible structures and pneumatic actuation.
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Keywords

3d printingActuatorsAgriculture 4.0CoffeeDesignFruit harvestingGraspingGripperNetworksRobotRobotic deviceRobotic manipulationSoft robot

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal FRONTIERS IN ROBOTICS AND AI due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2024 there are still no calculated indicators, but in 2023, it was in position 24/48, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Robotics. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q2 para la agencia Scopus (SJR) en la categoría Computer Science Applications.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-04-06:

  • WoS: 26
  • Scopus: 28
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-06:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 67.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 67 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 2.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Germany.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Navas, E) and Last Author (Fernandez Saavedra, Roemi Emilia).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Navas, E.

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