DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF THE

AUTOMATED SUGARCANE
HARVESTER

AUTHORED BY

T.MADHAN KUMAR
P.P.MAHALINGAM
PRE-FINAL YEAR
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
GOVERNMENT COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
TIRUNELVELI-627 007
1. ABSTRACT: hectare of the total cost, which saves
This idea was born after
around Rs. 5000 per hectare. Thus this
practically witnessing the hardships
simplifies the initial stage of the sugar
encountered by rural farmers in
and its bi- product production for the
harvesting saplings. In recent years
industries.
labor is not available for carrying out
basic agricultural operations. The same 2. INTRODUCTION:
problems are happening for the
sugarcane and tapioca cultivators. India Automated sugarcane harvester

is one of the major producers of is a unique, noble idea (which has been

sugarcane and tapioca, In the sugarcane materialized) aimed towards the

production India is ranking in second betterment of humanity. This idea of

position with 4.09 millon hectares and fabricating a project that can harvest

producing 283 million tonnes with the tall plants like sugarcane came across

production of 72.6 tonnes per hectare when it was known that manual labor
still persists in such fields. It has the
and also in tns producing 7620200
capability of harvesting four crops at a
tonnes in 242400.0 hectares with 17500
time. The project is a simple idea which
kgs per hectare. The main objective of
consists of a movable mechanical base
this project paper is to demonstrate the
coupled with a gripper and a motor to
process of harvesting tall field plants
move the gripper arm setup to the side
like sugarcane by cutting it and
after harvesting the crops. It works on
placing it into a box using grippers.
pneumatic power with two cylinders
Our ideas are mainly concentrated
ready to facilitate the process. Circular
towards the basic mechanical,
saw is fixed at the base of the movable
pneumatic and electrical systems to
mechanical base. A motor setup is used
frame the project with robotic
to turn the mechanical arm 90 degrees
resemblance. With the increasing
to either side as required by the user.
demands for energy, we may face the
The motor is powered by the use of a 12
energy crisis and thus the system is
volt battery. The mechanical base is
targeted to work with high efficiency,
moved by the use of four wheels
without any fuel power requirements.
The difference between manual and
automated harvest is nearly 1/20 per
3. DESCRIPTION OF
COMPONENTS:
MECHANICAL BASE:
The mechanical base gives the
foundation of the project. It is able to
move with the help of the four wheels
welded at its base. The handle used by
the user is placed just
50 mm from the top of the controls.
The length of the handle is just 160 mm
which is an adequate measurement
when considering the palm of a person.
In order to provide a base for the
control valves, a small platform is made
to sustain control valves. A person can
easily operate the mechanism since it is
placed at hip length of a person. The
wheels have a diameter of 185 mm
with the tube on and 150 mm without
the tubes. It is welded 60 mm from the
base.
4. AIR COMPRESSOR
A compressor is a machine that
compresses air or any other type of
gas from a low inlet pressure (usually
atmospheric) to a high desired pressure
level. This is accomplished by reducing
the volume of the gas. Air compressors
are generally positive displacement
units and are either of the reciprocating
piston type or the rotary screw type or
rotary vane types. In this project,
automated sugarcane harvester,
reciprocating type compressor (multi
stage) has been used.
5. DIRECTION CONTROL
VALVES
Direction control valves are
used to control the direction of flow of
pneumatic air or hydraulic fluid in the
circuit. Any valve contains the ports
that are external openings through
which fluid can enter and leave via
connecting pipelines. The number of
ports on a direction control valves is
identified using the term way as
shown in the figure below.
In this project, 5/2 Direction
control valve is used with the
specification.
5/2 DCV -SMSN
MODEL -4210
1.5-08 Kgf/cm2
 Direction control valve

6. PNEUMATIC CYLINDERS
Pneumatic cylinder
Pneumatic cylinders (sometimes
known as air cylinders) are mechanical 7. SPUR GEAR
devices, which produce force, often in
combination with movement, and are Spur gears have teeth parallel to
powered by compressed gas (typically the axes and thus, are not subjected to
air). axial thrust due to tooth load. At the
time of engagement of the two gears,
To perform their function, the contact extends across the entire
pneumatic cylinders impart a force by width on a line parallel to the axes of
converting the potential energy of rotation.
compressed gas into kinetic energy. This
is achieved by the compressed gas being
able to expand, without external energy
input, which itself occurs due to the
pressure gradient established by the
compressed gas being at a greater
pressure than the atmospheric pressure.
This air expansion forces a piston to
move in the desired direction.

Spur gear
8. CIRCULAR SAW: It works on the property of
pneumatics in which different bar
The circular saw is used to cut the
pressures are applied to the cylinder.
sugarcane at the base of the stalk. This
The arm is lifted based on the
makes it easier for the gripper to grab
pressure provided to the lifting
and put it at the side. We have used a 4
cylinder. More the pressure applied,
inch circular cutter which has forty
more is the power of the gripper to lift
teeth to facilitate the cutting process.
the plants. When closed the clearance is
The cutter has to be used in clockwise
10 mm while open its 145 mm. It is
rotation since the teeth are faced in that
made up of nickel steel.
way. It has a 20 mm arbor which is
adequate. This cutter is placed at 150
mm at the midpoint of the mechanical
base. The circular saw is activated by
a foot switch that pushes it forward.
The circular saw is rotated
continuously by the use of a simple
AC motor. As soon as the foot is
released from the switch, the saw
returns to its original position.

Spring controlled gripper

9. MECHANICAL GRIPPER:
10. DC MOTORS:
The gripper is the important part
The DC motors used may be of
of the project. It measures 650 mm in
brushed or brushless type. Many of the
length and is fixed in pairs. The gripper
limitations of the classic commutator
has ten high tension springs with
DC motor are eliminated in the
which the sugarcane can be held as
brushless motor. In this motor, the
shown .As soon as the gripper arms
mechanical "rotating switch" or
close up on the sugarcane crop, the
commutator/brush gear assembly is
springs take up the shape of the
replaced by an external electronic switch
sugarcane. This gives it a good grip on
synchronized to the rotor's position.
the crop and several of such crops.
Brushless motors are typically 85-90%
efficient, whereas DC motors with brush
gear are typically 75-80% efficient.
 to the opposite side and the gripper
opens up. The crops are then dropped
11. MOTOR SPECIFICATIONS:
to the ground.
Two speed wiper motor
Motor runs at 40 rpm
Motor draws 3.1 ampere at no load, 12 V
Size of the motor may be 7 inch*3.25
inch*4inch.
May be electrically isolated

12. OVERALL ASSEMBLY:

The overall size of the project is 27

inch x14 inch x 27 inch. Thus the
overall assembly consists of mechanical, Overall assembly
electrical and pneumatic components as OPTIMIZATION AND SYUDY:
shown .In a nutshell, this project was
13. ANALYSIS OF FORCE-
implemented in a few acres of land. The PRESSURE RELATIONSHIP
whole setup is moved manually to the
When P = 1 bar, Cylinder diameter = 60
bunch of sugarcanes. The arm lever is mm
diverted to a side which activates it to
Then F = 282.74 N
move vertically upward. Then the
gripper lever is diverted to a side which When P = 1.25 bar, Cylinder diameter =
60 mm
opens the gripper. Then the setup is
moved forward so that the gripper comes Then F = 353.42 N
in the vicinity of the sugarcanes. After
When P = 2 bar. Cylinder diameter = 60
this, it is closed by the use of the gripper mm
lever. Further the foot pedal is pressed in
the downward direction and these
Then F = 565.48 N
results in forward motion of the
circular saw. The mechanical arm setup When P = 2.5 bar, Cylinder diameter =
60 mm
is rotated with the help of the DC wiper
motor and the gripper arm is rotated 90 Then F = 706.85 N
degrees to either side based on the users
need. Then the gripper lever is diverted

Force Vs Pressure relationship.
The pneumatic supply is through the
compressor, which has been regulated,
as per the experimental study, with the
help of FRL unit. This pneumatic supply
is given to the 4 gripper positions per
gripper arm via hoses at the orifices of
the gripper positions. With respect
the cylinder diameter the force acted
upon on these orifices has
calculated
14. COMPARISON BETWEEN
MANUAL AND AUTOMATED
HARVEST:
The difference between
manual and automated harvest is
nearly 1/20 per acre of the total cost.
Manual harvest - Rs8000 per acre
Automated harvest -Rs3000 per acre
15. ADVANTAGES:
• The working fluid is very light in
weight so supply hoses are not heavy.
• Fast response of the pneumatic
system.
• Reduces the need for manpower
and labour cost.
16. FURTHUR MODIFICATIONS:
Stack can be fixed at the
sideways to place the sugarcanes. Shock
absorbers can be placed, so that smooth
movement of wheel on the hard terrain is
eased.
17. CONCLUSIONS:
With respect to the current
statistics as per formulated by the UN
food and agricultural organization, India
still lags behind the top spot Brazil in
sugar and its byproducts production.
Since, sugar and its byp roducts is one
of the highly consumed and one of the
essential goods in day to day life, with
to
the concept and knowledge of science
and engineering, the target of India as to
been
be highest producers of sugar and its by
products can be reached. Automated
sugarcane harvester is one such initial
stage of the application of science and
engineering to simplify the harvesting
of sugarcane thereby gradual increment
in the production of sugar and it’s by
products.
This not only leads to the social
5. R.S.Khurmi, (1993) - ‘Theory of
development but also the overall
Machines’ pp 86-94, 121-230.
economy of India can be boosted up. As
6. Robert L. Boylestead, Louis
automation sector has taken up almost all
Nashelsky, (2003) - ‘Electronics
the sectors, we realized that the devices and circuit theory’, pg 67-
130.
implementation of automation in the
agricultural sector can quadruple the 7. http://www.economywatch.com
rate of production but also keeping in
view of the issues like safety and work
ethical values thereby not disturbing
upon the agriculture employment sector.
Though this model has been practiced
and successfully implemented on few
acres of sugarcane field, with the further
modifications such as efficient riding of
this automated machine, this can be
brought onto the large acres of land.

18. REFERENCES:

1. Anthony Esposito, (2000) - ‘Fluid

Power’, pp 300-373.

2. Henk Bakker,
(1999) -
‘Sugarcane
Cultivation and
Management’,
pp 279-461.

3. H.H.De, (2002) - ‘Electric motor and

Control techniques’, pp 23-70.

4. Irving M. Gottlieb, (1994) -

‘Alternatives in Industrial
development: Sugarcane processing
in India’ pp 122-140.