THE PROPOSED RESEARCH INVESTIGATES THE FEASIBILITY OF USING ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS FOR HARVESTING AND PEDICEL REMOVAL OF NM-TYPE GREEN CHILE PEPPERS. CURRENTLY, THE GREEN CHILE CROP IS ENTIRELY HAND-HARVESTED IN NEW MEXICO, REQUIRING A LARGE NUMBER OF LABORERS DURING A RELATIVELY NARROW HARVEST WINDOW. HIGH COST AND LIMITED LABOR AVAILABILITY ARE THE MAIN CONTRIBUTING REASONS FOR REDUCED CHILE PEPPER PRODUCTION IN NEW MEXICO. COMMERCIALIZED MECHANICAL HARVESTERS HAVE BEEN TESTED BUT NOT YET ADOPTED. THOUGH THESE APPROACHES COME WITH THEIR PROS AND CONS, ROBOTIC ARMS USE TO MIMIC HAND-PICKING COULD BE A POTENTIAL SOLUTION FOR ADDRESSING CHILE PEPPERHARVESTING ISSUES. IN PARTICULAR, THE ROBOTIC HARVEST COULD ADDRESS BOTH HARVESTING AND PEDICEL REMOVAL (DESTEMMING) AT THE SAME TIME, UNLIKE CURRENT HELICAL HARVESTERS THAT DO NOT DESTEM THE FRUIT. WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND CONTROL OF ROBOTIC ARMS WITH INTEGRATED VISION-BASED FRUIT IDENTIFICATION AND LOCALIZATION FOR HARVESTING CHILE PEPPER. THIS ENGINEERING EFFORT IS IN CONJUNCTION WITH AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH TO BREED SPECIALIZED CHILE PEPPER CULTIVARS THAT PROVIDE MECHANIZATION EFFICIENCY THROUGH REDUCING THE FORCE NEEDED TO REMOVE FRUIT AND PEDICEL AS WELL AS PLANT ARCHITECTURES WITH MORE ACCESSIBLE FRUITS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL BE CARRIED OUT BASED ON FOLLOWING RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: 1) INVESTIGATE THE UNDERLYING DESIGN PRINCIPLES, DEVELOPMENT, AND CONTROL OF ROBOTIC MANIPULATOR AND END-EFFECTOR FOR CHILE PEPPER HARVESTING; 2) VISION-BASED IDENTIFICATION AND LOCALIZATION ALGORITHMS FOR THE GREEN CHILE PEPPER HARVESTING; 3) INVESTIGATE AND BREEDING GREEN CHILE PEPPER CULTIVARS FOR EFFICIENT MECHANIZATION; AND 4) TESTING, VALIDATION, AND ASSESSMENT OF THE ROBOTIC HARVESTING SYSTEMS.