Design and Analysis of Fuel-Based Robotic Coconut Tree Climber

Abstract

With an average of sixty million metric tons of production, coconut plays a significant role in the economy of many countries in South Asia. India produces 25% of the world’s coconuts, and Kerala has about half of India’s. Demand for this cash crop rises daily as consumption spreads across different areas. Upon this increased demand, the workforce shortage also exists. The conventional method of coconut harvesting is no longer attracting the educated youth as they are looking for easier and safer jobs. The main objectives to tackle in this research are problems such as robotic arm reachability issues and low battery life while carrying a higher load. Considering all these factors, we are introducing a petrol engine-based semi-automatic robotic coconut tree climber that can take a person to the top of the tree to harvest the nuts. The introduction of a petrol engine in this climber for drive power limits the battery power usage for controlling applications. This robotic climber uses an anti-fall three-layer contact design, which helps the robot hang on to the tree even if the power gets cut off. The three-layer contact design ensured more stability for the climber. This paper discusses mechanical design, system architecture, dynamic simulation, and static structural analysis.