New Farming Invention.  Inventing a selective asparagus harvester.

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The Asparagus Harvester - an Farming Invention

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A new farming invention, a selective asparagus harvester.  That is the answer my father gave to me when I asked him if he could think of anything for me to invent.  That was back in 1972.

I though about it briefly and decided that is sounded like a good idea. Might as well think big.

Asparagus spears grow randomly across a raised bed about 30 inches wide, at least that is the way it's grown in the San Joaquin valley.  The spears can grow up to 6 inches or more a day when the temperature is hot.  The machine would have to determine if a spear was tall enough to be harvested, and then cut the spear off slightly below the ground and pick it up.

First I tried to figure out how to locate the spears of harvestable height.  I decided on a video camera using a crude image sensor I read about in Popular Electronics.  The sensor had 32 rows by 32 columns of photo sensitive elements.

I obtained the parts for the video camera project, and built some circuitry to isolate two rows of elements which I was going to use to determine the height of the spear and the direction it might be leaning if it was leaning.  The circuitry seemed to work, so I continued on.

I decided that to cut the spears I would use the same asparagus knives used by the hand crews, but mounted on  air driven cylinders. I was totally unaware that such cylinders existed in industry. I was planning on using bicycle pumps for the air cylinders. 

I did try making giant 24" long solenoids, but the high amperage needed was a problem, and the solenoids got very hot very quickly so I abandoned that approach.

Shortly after I decided to try bicycle pumps I was talking to my wife's grand father and he told me he had been in a saw mill and had seen air cylinders that were being used in the equipment. He even called a friend of his and found out for me the name of the company that built the cylinders.  Bellows Valve-Air.

At this point I had a crude detection system and an idea of how to cut the spears but little else.  Certainly I had no money.  I reasoned that if I was to build a prototype asparagus harvester then I would need some money. 

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