Development of a novel coconut-tree-climbing machine for harvesting

Abstract

Presently, there is a dearth of professional climbers to carry out coconut harvesting because it involves considerable risk posed by the tree height and uneven trunk surface. Numerous coconut-tree-climbing devices have been developed to overcome this issue, but human effort is still required. Hence, it is imperative to develop a wheel-driven mechanism in the structure with a continuous motion to harvest coconuts. By featuring an anti-falling capability, the climber can be stable in static and dynamic conditions. This feature can be achieved by attaching springs in the supporting frame during vertical climbing on the trunk surface. This paper presents a 3D modeling and the static and dynamic analysis of a climbing machine. The climbing field trials of the climbing model were carried out on a coconut tree trunk, and the best climbing rate that was achieved was 0.3 m in 1.6 seconds. Control of the climber maneuverability was tested with an embedded processor board. The maturity identification of coconuts in a complex background was successfully achieved with a detection score of 99% on real-time images by using deep learning techniques. This study can be extended to identify the cutting point of the coconut bunches for harvesting.

Keywords:

• Coconut tree climber
• continuous motion
• field trial
• image processing
• automation in agriculture

Acknowledgment

We thank Dr. D. Ravindran, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, National Engineering College, Kovilpatti for providing his support in manuscript refinement for resubmission. We also thank Mr. S. Karthikeyan, Research Engineer, Advanced Manufacturing Technology Development Centre, IITM Research Park, IIT Madras for assistance in design and analysis part of this research work. This research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.