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20233
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Subject: Farm, Machinery and Power × End date: 2023 × Start date: 2023 ×
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    Development and Control of a Suitable Robotic Manipulator for Wash Root Paddy Nursery
    (Punjab Agricultural University, 2023) Jaideep; Manjeet Singh
    The study aimed to develop a robotic manipulator for the singulation and transplanting of seedlings from a bunch of wash-root paddy nursery. Previous attempts to develop mechanical transplanters for wash root paddy nursery faced challenges, leading to the exploration of robotic systems for seedling singulation. To develop robotic manipulator, study was conducted to determine physical and mechanical properties of wash root seedlings at different growth stages for consecutively two years in 2020-21 and 2021-22. The collected data was used in the development of the robotic manipulator and different electro-mechanical mechanisms used for seedling segregation and conveying. During the evaluation phase, the electro-mechanical mechanisms showed inadequate segregation from the bunch of wash-root seedlings. Modifications were made in the robotic manipulator’s design, enhancing its arm reach and end-effector design to achieve the desired functionality. The approach to program the robotic manipulator for pre-specified positions instead of image processing technique was considered for more flexibility and adaptability in segregating the wash-root seedlings. The Jetson Nano microprocessor was utilized for control and coordination, enabling execution of the manipulator’s operations. A forward kinematic analysis using the standard Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H) algorithm and RoboAnalyzer software were used for the control of robotic manipulator. Python language was used for the programming to control the manipulator’s actions and interactions with the wash-root seedlings in tray. Seedling height ranged from 153.3 mm (PR-121 variety) to 553.4 mm (PB-1125 variety) across different ages and varieties. PB-1125 variety is the longest variety, and PB-121 variety is the shortest variety amongst all four varieties selected for the study. Cross-sectional area of the wash-root seedlings varied from 3.63 mm2 (PB-1509 variety) to 9.46 mm2 (PB-1125 variety). Average tensile force and compressive force varied 6.72-26.53 N and 5.74- 14.74 N respectively for all 3 varieties and 3 growth stages of the seedlings. During the evaluation of robotic manipulator, the minimum percentage of cycles i.e., 15.33% missing the seedlings were observed for the washed seedlings of varieties PB-1121 and PB-1509 at the age of 30 DAS. It was concluded that average seedlings picked per cycle varied in the range of 1.45 to 1.88 with highest seedlings picked at 25 DAS and lowest picking was of seedlings at 35 DAS. Data analysis showed that the percentage of more than 3 seedlings picked per cycle varied in the range of 10.00-20.67% with the highest percentage was observed at 25 DAS of the seedlings and lowest percentage was recorded for seedlings aged 35 DAS. Overall, the performance of developed robotic manipulator was better for the seedlings of all the selected varieties at the age of 35 DAS.
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    Development and evaluation of paddy straw size reduction machine for industrial application and energy production
    (Punjab Agricultural University, 2023) Mahadik, Akshay Sanjay; Dogra, Ritu
    A motor operated paddy straw size reduction machine was designed, developed and evaluated. The machine consisted of a rotating inlet bale drum, an adjustable feeding grate, two rotating drums, three concave sieves, power unit, power transmission unit and discharge unit. A rotating bale drum was provided for feeding the square or rectangular bales to the machine. So, labour requirement was less in the developed machine as the bales were directly fed to the machine. The cutting mechanism was designed to cut the straw effectively. The knives were used for cutting the paddy straw which reduces the energy requirement of the machine. There were two rotating drums used in the cutting mechanism of the machine, where the first rotating drum cuts the straw and passes it to the second rotating drum for further size reduction as per the requirement. Power to the rotating drums were provided from suitable motor. An inclined platform as discharge unit was provided to draw out the chopped paddy straw from the machine. The machine was evaluated in the laboratory conditions at three level of grid size of concave (G1=8 mm, G2=10 mm and G3=12 mm), three levels of number of rows of counter blades (C1=3, C2=2 and C3=1), three levels of rotational speed of drum 1 (A1=851, A2=1020 and A3=1277 rpm) and three levels of rotational speed of drum 2 (B1=851, B2=1020 and B3=1277 rpm). These independent parameters significantly affected the dependent parameters namely energy consumption, output capacity and straw size (10-15 mm, 5-10 mm and 1-5 mm) percentage at 5% level of significance. Minimum energy consumption was 15.88 kWh/t found at combination of 12 mm (G3), one row of counter blades (C3), 851 rpm (A1) and 851 rpm (B1). Maximum output capacity was 668.01 kg/h found at combination of 12 mm (G3), one row of counter blades (C3), 1277 rpm (A3) and 1277 rpm (B3). The best combination of independent parameters for the machine was found at 12 mm of grid size of concave (G3), one row of counter blades (C3), 1020 rpm of rotational speed of drum 1 (A2) and 1020 rpm of rotational speed of drum 2 (B2) with higher output capacity of 575.68 kg/h, lower energy requirement of 18.60 kWh/t, higher straw size (10-15 mm) percentage (28.24%), higher straw size (5-10 mm) percentage (34.88%) and lower straw size (1-5 mm) percentage (16.85%).
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    Design, Development and Evaluation of Tractor Operated Tree Shaker for Fruit Crops
    (Punjab Agricultural University, 2023) Apoorv Prakash; Dixit, Anoop Kumar
    A hydraulically controlled tree shaker has been designed and developed which is capable of generating enough vibrations to shake any fruit tree for harvesting of fruits. It has provision of holding the trunk of tree at desired level up to a height of 2438 mm. The machine has three main assemblies viz., main frame, telescopic arm and vibration unit with grippers. A collecting basket was also developed to collect the fruits falling from the tree. The extended upper diameter of a fully opened basket is around 6706 mm. Type of fruit tree, material of shaking rod, stroke rate and type of collecting basket were selected as independent parameter for the study. The effect of independent parameters was observed on dependent parameters viz., magnitude of vibration (displacement and acceleration), tree damage assessment, fruit detachment efficiency, weight of harvested fruits, percentage distribution of mature, immature, and damaged fruits and harvesting rate, shaking time/tree and fuel consumption. The developed prototype was optimized and evaluated in actual field conditions for harvesting of Aonla and Jamun fruits at university orchards and at village Birmi of district Ludhiana (Punjab). In both type of fruit trees, stroke rate and material of gripping unit has significant effect on displacement at the place of gripping unit of machine and at different positions on the branch of the tree away from the gripping point. Similar trend has also been observed for acceleration, fruit detachment efficiency, weight of harvested fruits and mature fruits. Type of collecting basket has no significant effect on damage of fruits. Bark damage of the tree in case of EPE Foam on grippers was more as compared to rubber type material. During field evaluation good quality mature fruits, immature fruits and damaged fruits were 78.59%, 5.59% and 15.81% respectively for Aonla whereas it was 82.34%, 7.10% and 10.56% respectively for Jamun fruits. The overall fuel consumption recorded while harvesting Aonla and Jamun fruits from the tree is 5.6 and 6.06 l/h respectively. The overall saving in labour was 74-80% in Aonla and 75-81% in Jamun fruit harvesting as compared to manual fruit harvesting i.e., Control.