Design and Control Overview of the UAV-Based Minimally Invasive Drilling and Resin Collection Device

Natural rubber harvesting has long been a complex and labor‑intensive task. In response to the problems in the current rubber tapping industry—such as the low efficiency and high labor intensity of traditional manual tapping, as well as the poor flexibility of existing mechanical tapping equipment and the excessively large cutting surfaces that can cause irreversible damage to rubber trees—this paper designs a minimally invasive drilling‑based rubber tapping device mounted on a multi‑rotor hexacopter UAV, and develops a UAV trajectory planning and recognition system based on an improved A* algorithm. A detailed control scheme is also presented. In terms of structural design, the system uses a multi‑rotor hexacopter UAV as the platform and adopts a lightweight, modular design. The minimally invasive drilling module employs a 2.2 mm diameter tungsten carbide drill bit, combined with a servo‑motor‑driven precision feed mechanism and integrated with a 2‑DOF servo gimbal and 3D‑printed connecting components, achieving a feed accuracy of 0.1 mm and reducing damage to the tree. On this structural basis, MATLAB simulations are conducted to verify the improved A*‑based UAV trajectory planning and recognition system. The experimental results show that the algorithm can effectively identify obstacles during flight, ensure stable operation of the mechanical equipment, and further reduce planning time and path length. This study provides a new technical approach and research direction for the mechanization and intelligent rubber tapping industry, is of great significance for promoting the green and sustainable development of the rubber industry, and can also serve as a reference for the design of UAV‑mounted end‑effector devices for agricultural product harvesting.