Abstract: Honeysuckle is one of the bulk medicinal materials in China. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that honeysuckle and its active components exhibit a wide range of pharmacological effects. Meanwhile, honeysuckle also possesses high economic value.Currently, the picking of honeysuckle is primarily completed manually. With the expansion of planting areas and the increase in labor costs, many fresh honeysuckle buds cannot be picked in time. Once the crucial picking period is missed, the active components in honeysuckle will be significantly diminished, leading to a substantial impact on its market price.Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop efficient honeysuckle picking machinery. Currently, there have been some research reports on honeysuckle picking devices, such as handheld or backpack-mounted small-scale harvesters designed to assist workers. Although the picking efficiency has been improved to some extent, the labor demand and physical intensity have not been reduced. Consequently, these devices remain unsuitable for large-scale honeysuckle picking, and thus have not been widely adopted in the market.In response to the existing problems in current honeysuckle picking, such as high labor intensity, elevated labor costs, and the low efficiency of available picking devices, this study proposed a belt-type comb-brush picking method and designed a corresponding device based on the physical characteristics and planting pattern of honeysuckle.First, an anti-entanglement design was implemented based on the structural characteristics of the honeysuckle plant. The belt-type comb-brush picking method was adopted, with the following parameters determined: the spacing between the rear picking teeth was set at 75 mm, the width of the picking belt was 900 mm, the axial distance of the picking belt was 870 mm, the picking radius was defined as 200 mm, and the lowest point of the picking teeth was set at a height of 400 mm above the ground. To ensure picking effectiveness, the picking teeth were arranged on the belt in a staggered distribution between adjacent rows: the spacing between teeth within the same row was set at 60 mm, while the spacing between adjacent rows of picking teeth was set at 30 mm.Secondly, the kinematic state and force application of the picking teeth were analyzed. The key factors influencing the operational performance were identified as the forward speed of the device, the rotational speed of the drive shaft, and the length of the picking teeth.Then, a discrete element flexible model of the honeysuckle plant was established using EDEM software. The model consisted of the main stem, branches, vines, and buds, with the Hertz-Mindlin (no-slip) contact model selected. A simplified model of the picking device was created in SolidWorks and imported in STEP format into RecurDyn, where a flexible shell belt was established and constraints were applied. Using the EDEM-RecurDyn co-simulation approach, a coupled simulation of the picking device was performed to analyze the process of bud removal and validate the rationality of the device design.Finally, single-factor experiments were conducted with the picking rate, damage rate, and impurity rate of honeysuckle as the experimental indicators. The optimized ranges for each factor were determined to be 2～4 km/h, 300～450 r/min, and 60～70 mm, respectively. A Box-Behnken experimental design was also employed to optimize these parameters. The results indicated that the optimal parameters were an operating speed of 4 km/h, a drive shaft speed of 317 r/min, and a picking tooth length of 70 mm. Under these conditions, the corresponding picking rate, damage rate, and impurity rate were 79.59%, 11.46%, and 14.31%, respectively. Field trials conducted with the optimized parameters yielded a honeysuckle picking rate of 78.48%, a damage rate of 12.02%, and an impurity rate of 14.76%.The findings of this study can provide a reference for the design and optimization of comb-brush-type honeysuckle harvesters.