Design of Transport Mechanism and Mechanical Assembly of a Loose Fruit Collector for Oil Palm Industry

Chee, Ler Yin (2023) Design of Transport Mechanism and Mechanical Assembly of a Loose Fruit Collector for Oil Palm Industry. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

This project studies how to improve the efficiency of the loose fruits collection in an oil palm plantation. Oil palm loose fruits contain a high amount of oil compared to fresh fruit bunches. When the collection on the oil palm loose fruit is increased, the oil extraction rate is higher and the income increases remarkably. However, the fresh state of the loose fruit on the ground decreases significantly once it falls down due to the oxidation, and more than 10 % of the loose palm fruits during harvesting are overripe. Therefore, the objective of this project is to design and develop an engineering design of motorised operated loose palm fruits collector. The main focus is to design a transport mechanism for moving loose fruits from collecting tray to the basket of the power barrow via screw conveyor and also to design an assembly system that integrated the transport mechanism with the collecting mechanism and to the power barrow. The transporting mechanism design will be subjected to engineering analysis via FEA simulation, such as stress distribution, factor of safety and displacement plot. The simulation result data can be analysed to determine the suitability of the dimensions and parameters of the design for the collector. Optimisation of the transporting mechanism design is done based on the static analysis result and discussion. The finish product of the 3D printed screw is also evaluated. This project contributes to the generation of a concept solution to address the problem that is currently faced by the oil palm operators, the ultimate aim is to increase the efficiency of the loose fruit collection and eventually increase the revenues of the plantation.