Design & Verify PhaseSENIOR DESIGN TEAM 25: PALM HARVESTER

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Group Members

Gianni Alessandria, IE Bolivar Lobo, IE Louis-Olivier Verret, IE

Brian Newman, ME Yuze (Liam) Liu, ME Ricardo Aleman, ME David Boswell, ECE

Louis

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Advisors

Dr. Okoli (Sponsor) Dr. Olawale (IE supervisor) Dr. Amin (ME senior design coordinator) Dr. Clark (ME advisor) Dr. Frank (ECE senior design coordinator) Dr. Moss (ECE advisor)

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Project Review

Palm Harvester

GoalDevelop an

effective, efficient, and economical oil

palm harvester

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Define Phase

Goal ◦ Construct a semiautonomous oil palm harvesting

machine Budget

◦ $2,000 Expectations

◦ Consider safety, affordability, efficiency and reliability

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House of Quality

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Customer requirements

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Quality characteristics

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Results

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Measure Phase 1. Brainstormed Cart with Telescoping Pole

2. Built a small mechatronic prototype

3. Developed the Mechatronic Concept

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Cart with Telescoping Pole ConceptCOMPONENTS

• Cutting Tool (A)

• Telescoping Pole (B)

• Tree Grips (C)

• Cart (D)

• Power/ Auxiliary System (E)

A

B

D & E

Oil Palm

Palm Harvester

R = 5ft

H ≤ 40ft

h = 4ft

Drawing not to scale

C

Ricardo

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Analyze Phase Overview of the design

Fabrication

Delivery of most components

Recap of the Design Phase

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Test 1 Design Phase Goal:

• Extending Pole

• Winch

• Cart

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Results of Test

POSITIVES◦ Winch ◦ Poles ◦ Reinforcements of cart◦ Mobility of the cart

ISSUES◦ Unstable Poles◦ Sliding Experienced ◦ Cart veered left ◦ Rotation of the

extending pole◦ Pivot block had

incorrect threading

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Veering of Cart

Actual

Target

SOLUTION

Reduce wobble in legs to improve maneuverability

• Temporary solution by filling gaps with material to occupy space

•Future work can improve the legs by designing them more rigidly

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Loose Pivot Ring ISSUE

◦ Gap Between ring and pole ◦ Need a better way to secure

pole inside pivot ring

SOLUTION

◦ Add a T-Handle Screw ◦ Tightening of pole

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Loose Pivot RingISSUE SOLUTION

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Rotation of PoleISSUE

Rotation of the pole during testing

Lead to Failure

Need to constrain pole rotations

SOLUTION •Use inner plastic bars to constrain rotation

• Also use orange tape along tubes to watch for potential rotations

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Testing Issue 4: Bracket Yielding• The pulley brackets yielded

• Why wasn’t this anticipated?

• See wire twisted around pole

• Twisting wire required extra winch force which wasn’t expected, thus yielding

• Need to reinforce pulley brackets

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Solution 4: Bracket Yielding• Need to reinforce pulley brackets

• Bending likely because of extra load from twisting rope

• One fix is to constrain rotation ( Solution 3)

• Also use pulley with wing to distribute load better

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Assembly Status

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Assembly Status All mechanical subassemblies have been completed!

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Verify Phase

Gianni

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Mounting of the Subassemblies

Gianni

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Test 2 • SETUP TIME &

PROCEDURE

• TREE GRIPS

• ELECTRONICS• CAMERA• CUTTING TOOL

Gianni

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Results Positives• No injuries• Poles rise up 25ft high• Tree grips were functioning

properly• Partially constrained rotation• Friction tape held tree grip well

against the poles.• Mounted camera provided

good view of the tree grip.

Gianni

25ft

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Camera • Mounted camera provided a good view of the tree grip (right below

the pole saw)

Gianni

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Issues: Not High Enough! The device got stuck at

25 ft. Reason:

Upper tree grip was cranked closed.

We followed an incorrect sequence.

SOLUTION: Adhere to Operation

Manual

Gianni

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Issues: Pulleys & Brackets Lowest pulley mount

bent because of angle with respect to pole axis and insufficient fastening.

2nd lowest pulley bracket buckled outward due to est. 100lbs weight of poles + 100lbs friction.

Gianni

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Solution #1 Reinforcements added to the pulleys to avoid outward bending.

Gianni

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Solution #2 New pulley configuration for better stability and rope alignment. Less moment about the pole’s base.

Gianni

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Issue: Pole Saw’s Length Pole saw was not clamped far enough

Tree grips were further out from the pole axis than the tip of the pole saw.

SOLUTION: EXTEND POLE SAW

Gianni

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Issue: Gap on Wheels Excessive gap between

wheels and wheel assembly caused additional wobbling when moving the cart.

SOLUTIONWe placed washers to

fill the gap.

Gianni

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Additional Issues Encountered Excessive 17mph winds Ropes got tangled and were hectic to deal with LONG SET UP TIME – 30 MIN Winch used to control upper tree grip is annoying to use

backwards Didn’t have legal permission to cut branches from nearby

trees

Gianni

Operation Manual

Bolivar

Operation Manual Two main parts:

◦ Assembly of the cart.◦ Operation during cutting.

Cart Assembly:◦ Extend legs of the cart.◦ Attached arm brackets on the extending pole.◦ Pivot pole from horizontal position to vertical.

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Operation Manual Cutting Operation:

◦ Extend pole using the crank ◦ Close arm brackets using crank◦ Cut fruit using camera and ropes

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Operation Improvement Cart Assembly:

◦ Pivoting the pole caused problems. ◦ Arm brackets caused a problems when pivoting

also

Cutting operation◦ Ropes arranged in a better position

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Safety ConsiderationsPROTECTIVE GEAR:

INDUSTRIAL HELMET

SAFETY GOGGLES

GLOVES

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Keep the harvester stationary Check for level groundDo not push/pull the harvester while the poles are extended

BEFORE OPERATION:

Safety Considerations

Use the bullseye from cart

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Fix tree grips to tree before turning on pole saw

Remain attentive for falling branches or fruit

DURING OPERATION:

Safety Considerations

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In case of inclement weather, it is recommended to stop the operation, lower the poles, and resume only after the weather has been cleared.

In case the telescoping pole falls, the operator should immediately stop and exit outside of the range that the pole saw can cover.

DURING OPERATION:

Safety Considerations

43 ft

Bolivar

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CURRENT & FUTURE WORK Monitor acrylic case installed. Test 3 – this weekend!

# of people to prop up the pole vertically

Minimum time to move tree to tree

Time to cut a branch

Poster for EE, IE, & ME open house. Final Report & Presentation

Bolivar

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FUTURE WORK

Bolivar

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Questions, Concerns, Suggestions?