NCDA: Pickle Sorter Project Proposal Project Sponsored by Ed Kee of Keeman Produce, Lincoln, DE

2 Project Background Title: Pickle Sorter Sponsor: Ed Kee of Keeman Produce Problem: The pickling cucumber industry currently separates undesirable cucumbers from desirable ones in an inefficient manner (manually). Mr. Kee would like a device to efficiently and reliably separate the usable cucumbers from the unusable ones.

Schematic

4 Size Catagories 1A: inch diameter 1B: inch diameter 2A: inch diameter 2B: inch diameter 3A: inch diameter 3B: inch diameter Oversize: > 2.0 inch diameter

5 Undesirable Cucumbers 3 Catagories: –Oversized (Diameter > 2 in.) –Relish (Broken) –Cul (Crooks and Nubs) Constitutes 18.4% (average) of Total Crop –Oversized: 3.8% –Relish: 7.8 % –Cul 6.8 %

6 Definition of Cul USDA specification (1936): “...materially curved, materially tapered more than normal at one or both ends, or otherwise materially misshapen for pickling purposes.”

7 Mission Statement To provide an integrated, automated system to sort out undesirable pickles on the processing line.

8 Customers

9 SSD ©

10 Metrics Harvest Season: 80 days (Endurance / Reliability Metric) Approximate cost of Sorting Labor per plant each season: $185,000 (Our total cost of operation must improve on this cost) % of Harvest needing removal: 16-25% –Between 5% and 9% of Total is Cul

11 Metrics (continued) Operating speeds of conveyor system: –100 ft/min at primary intake area –50 ft/min at secondary sorting area –~2000 Bushels/hr = ~400,000 Pickles/hr Effectiveness Goal: –80% accurate removal of crooks and nubs –No more than 5% usable cucumbers removed

12 Approach Method Location of sorting mechanism: –In cannery as opposed to a Harvester-mounted system Speculation as to approach: –Imaging-software driven –Desirable to integrate with current conveyor system

13 Benchmarking State of the Art: No economical, efficient System currently exists for removing Cul from a Cucumber harvest. Strategy: Research methods of conveyance, shape identification, imaging, and other related concepts that could be used in an efficient, economical system. Also: Judge the feasibility of adapting an existing Potato sorter to our purposes.

15 Current Progress Meetings with the customer –Teleconferencing and in person Brainstorming Information Gathering –Specific to our customer wants/constraints/etc. Benchmarking Following SSD © procedures Preparing Project Proposal

16 What’s Next Planning a visit to Vlasic’s packaging site Gathering more information from manufacturers of similar systems for other types of produce Mathematical definition of ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ cucumbers Continued regular Team meetings