Introduction
In India, especially
in the southern parts, harvesting of coconuts has become a difficult task due
to the shortage of skilled labors and also because of the risks involved in
it. In order to increase the harvesting rate
and the profit margin, a robotic system has been designed and tested successfully.
Design Objectives
The main objective of
this design is to create a rugged system which can be easily attached and
operated by an unskilled person. It was
designed keeping in mind low power consumption and extreme environments.
Design Concept
Climbing mechanism: It consists of a ring shaped base frame with three spring
loaded wheels which adjusts the diameter
of the climbing system based on the size of the tree . It can easily
accommodate the size variations and small obstructions on the wheel path.
Robotic Manipulator: The manipulator has 3 DOF and the base has got an additional DOF to slide on the base of the climbing mechanism. It has a rotary cutting blade as an end effector. The use of worm and worm-wheel s allows the mechanism to maintain its position without any load on the motors.
Design Challenges and
Innovation
•A
major challenge in designing this mechanism was the variations in the diameter
of the tree along its length as well as bends and curves of the tree. Designing
the base platform to accommodate these variations was one of the challenges in.
•
The major innovation is in the base design with spring loaded wheels. Addition
of a robotic manipulator has greatly increased the utility of the machine, with
lot of possibilities for further development.
Prototype Description
The system is
operated by attaching the base frame to the tree with a latch mechanism and the
machine climbs the tree with the help of
the spring loaded wheels which clamp on to the structure of the tree. Once the
region to harvest is reached, the sliding manipulator arm can be used to locate
harvestable coconuts and later they are harvested by the end manipulator.
The present prototype
has wooden parts in certain places to counteract the buckling effect. In
future, Fiber Reinforced Plastic
(FRP) can be used for fabricating the components so that the system will be
stronger and the weight can also be reduced.
Project Adviser: Prof. T. Asokan
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Teammate: Mr. Umesh Nettiyath
Project Adviser: Prof. T. Asokan
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Teammate: Mr. Umesh Nettiyath
Prizes and awards
- Won the Design Award of Rs 1 lakh in the International Open Contest organized by Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Kerala in 2009.
- Won First prize in Student Mechanism Design Contest in NaCoMM 2011, National Conference organized by Association for Machines Mechanisms.
- Won Second Prize in GE Research Expo conducted as part of Shastra-2011 at IIT Madras.
Press Videos and News Paper Clippings ...
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