Design and fabrication of copra sweeping robot

Abstract

Copra Crushing Industry has one of the production processes that is being used widely in the Oil production and manufacturing industries. Considering a fully equipped plant, the production ranges from 500-560 tons of oil per month. A good yielding copra provides 95% of output that has 5-7% of moisture content. Lesser the moisture content higher the yield. In the process of oil extraction, the copra is fed into the chute that is pumped onto the main silo for steaming process. This feeding process is done manually; hence, there are many mishaps occurring like copra falling away from the chute. A dried copra is crunchy enough to pierce the leg of the employees. Therefore, our paper aims to provide solution to these issues and ensure the safety of the employees. Design and fabrication of copra sweeping robot is proposed in this paper. The robot runs on wheels utilizes a sweeper mechanism to accumulate dried copra in a coconut oil extraction plant. This application of mechatronics comes under the field of Mobile Robotics. It is used to sweep the copra to one side so that the employees could pass through the place without any harm. It is provided with an attachment for the sweeping process. This could ultimately ensure employee safety and increase the productivity.