Vibration response characteristics of Jujube trees based on finite element method and structure-from-motion

•A new 3D reconstruction method is proposed to obtain accurate jujube tree 3D model.•The vibration transfer characteristics of jujube trees is explored.•The optimal vibration parameters are obtained.•Field and simulation experiments are conducted to verify the reliability of jujube tree vibration mechanism. It is an indispensable step to choose optimal vibration parameters in jujube fruits vibration harvesting. Excessive vibration frequency will cause jujube tree damage, otherwise, the separation of fruit and fruit stalk cannot be achieved, resulting in harvesting failure. In our work, finite element method and vibration tests are applied to find optimal vibration parameters. To improve the accuracy of finite element method, a low-cost 3D reconstruction method is proposed to build jujube tree model. Experimental result showed that the phenotypic information of the reconstructed jujube tree and the real jujube tree have a high similarity, and their determination coefficient R2 reach to 0.984. Moreover, the natural frequencies of jujube tree are analyzed by modal analysis, transient analysis is applied to analyze vibration transfer characteristics. The simulation and experimental results show that the optimal vibration frequency range of jujube tree is 25∼30 Hz, the optimal vibration excitation location is on the main trunk and as high as possible close to the secondary branches, which can obtain maximum vibration response for optimum harvesting efficiency. The average determination coefficient is 0.66 between test and simulation results at different frequencies. This study can provide references for accurate 3D modeling of jujube trees, selection of appropriate vibration parameter range and the development of jujube harvesting machinery.