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Published byRosalyn Morris Modified over 9 years ago
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Arabica Coffee Cherry Harvester By: Joselyn Castillo, Kevin Ward, Brooke Willin Academic Advisor: Dr. Cesar Levy Senior Design 1: EML 4551 April 22, 2015
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Agenda Problem Statement Motivation Global Issues Goals Engineering Standards/Application Design Alternatives Conclusion
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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
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Motivation Man Portable Device Increase Quantity & Quality of Coffee Decrease Child Labor
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Global Issues 1. Manual Labor 2. Economy 3. Environment Conditions
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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
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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
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Arabica Coffee Cherry Characteristics Light Red Yellow Purple Immature Mature Difference for Strength in Sessile attachment Mature cherries require less strength to detach then immature berries Size range from immaturity to over maturity Immature Small- Mature Large- Pruney medium 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
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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
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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
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Design Idea I
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Design Idea II
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Design Components I 1) Material Choices: Carbon Fiber: Lightweight Durable 3D Printable Costly Aluminum Alloy: Lightweight Durable Inexpensive
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Design Components II 2) 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
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Economics Aspect Current machinery cost $1000+ Besides labor costs, the machine costs outweighs cost of coffee income Less material and equipment cost low
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Arabica Coffee Cherry Harvester Timeline 2015
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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
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