Arabica Coffee Cherry Harvester By: Joselyn Castillo, Kevin Ward, Brooke Willin Academic Advisor:...
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Transcript of Arabica Coffee Cherry Harvester By: Joselyn Castillo, Kevin Ward, Brooke Willin Academic Advisor:...
Arabica Coffee Cherry Harvester
By: Joselyn Castillo, Kevin Ward, Brooke WillinAcademic Advisor: Dr. Cesar Levy
Senior Design 1: EML 4551April 22, 2015
AgendaProblem Statement
Motivation
Global Issues
Goals
Engineering Standards/Application
Design Alternatives
Conclusion
Problem Statement
Hand Picking-To Slow-Significant manual labor
Economically Impractical
Resolution: Machine to facilitate the picking without causing harm to the plant
Strip Harvesting-Lowers quality-Harmful to plant
Global Issues• Picking cherries is demanding → involves kids to
help pick cherries all day too
• Example: In Nicaragua, farmers quota is 100 lb. of coffee beans per day to get paid minimum wage
• In South America, most coffee tree plants are grown in mountains, difficult to carry heavy equipment
Goals
To improve the process of picking
coffee beans and quality
Gather 70% of cherries at
prime maturity
Portable Machine
Decrease Labor Time
Affordable to farmers
Arabica Coffee Cherry Characteristics
Light RedYellow Purple Immature Mature
• Color Range from Immaturity to Over-Maturity:
• Strength Range in Sessile Attachment from Immaturity to Maturity:
• Size Range from Immaturity to Maturity:
Becomes Weaker
Grows In Size
• A gearing system will be implemented to rotate components at different RPM’s
Engineering Applications
Frequency of Vibration:
• Quantifying shearing force needed to detach mature and immature fruit
Wireless Receiver:
Testing and Modeling:
Gearing System:
Shearing Force:
• SolidWorks modeling will be used to model and test our proposed design
• The Vibrating mechanism may need to be switched on through wireless signal
• Quantification of frequency of vibrations for mature and immature cherries
Engineering Standards • NSPE: National Society of Professional Engineers &
• ASME: American Society of Mechanical Engineers Code of ethics & safety codes To ensure proper design practices are followed
• ASTM: American Society for Testing and Materials Quality and effective materials chosen
• AGMA: American Gear Manufacturers Association Gearing system needed to rotate our design at a
specified RPM
• USDA: United States Department of Agriculture Coffee plant characteristics
Design Components I1) Material Choices:
• Carbon Fiber: Lightweight Durable 3D Printable Costly
• Aluminum Alloy: Lightweight Durable Inexpensive
Design Components II2) Powering Options:• Solar Panels:
Clean energy Might not supply sufficient power in a
practical manner• Gas powered motor:
Not Clean energy Will supply the necessary power needed Readily available
• Hybrid: A combination of gas and solar energy used
to power harvester
Economics Aspect
• Current machinery cost $1000+
• Besides labor costs, the machine costs outweighs cost of coffee income
• Less material and equipment cost low
Conclusion• Goal: Gather 70% of Cherries picked as
ripened
• Design: Improve upon design and begin building throughout the next couple of months Make it light enough to be man portable
• Global: Decrease work intensity and increase quantity without affecting quality