Project Overview

         Coconut production plays a key role in economic and cultural upliftment of many of India’s southern states. In fact the state of Kerala is widely known as ‘land of coconut trees’. Harvesting coconut is becoming a difficult task since many of the trained workers are no longer working and the current generation is showing little interest in this whole concept. Thus, the invention of new machines is extremely necessary in order to save coconut farming. The goal of this project is to create a coconut harvesting drone which will revolutionize the coconut production in many of India’s southern states particularly Kerala. The aim of this drone is to cut ripe coconuts. This drone will be a manually controlled quad-copter, consisting of a camera and sensors to determine whether the coconut is ripe or not. Some of technical challenges that we might face during the production of drone would be determining adequate amount of power for moving parts of the copter, finding appropriate sensor that can tell whether the coconut is ripe or not, and a capable robotic arm that can cut the coconuts. We believe that, with the help and guidance of the faculty and advanced engineers, this project could be successfully completed.

         Figure 1 shows a general layout of the different components of the Coconut Harvesting Drone. The drone will mainly hold the battery for the laser module and robotic arm, and the electrical components. Figure 2 shows the layout of the robotic arm, which holds the camera and laser module.

Figure 1: General layout of  the components

Figure 2: General Layout of  Robotic Arm

Week 10

Today is the Day!

We will be making the final presentation today at 1pm at the Hill Conference Room.

The Final Report is now complete and can be viewed by clicking here.

For the past 10 weeks, we worked diligently on this project. We hope we can work on this project in future and help coconut farmers from around the world. We want to wholeheartedly thank Dr. Peter Hertzfeld and Mr. Marco Janko for their help and guidance throughout this project.

Week 9

Summary

• This week made some final adjustments to the report.
• We added more details to the budget and timeline.
• We also started working on the final presentation, which is next Tuesday
• We realized that our current robotic arm could not support the weight of the camera and the laser module. So we found a different Robotic Arm that has a payload of at least 1 kg. Figure 1 shows a picture of it.
• Figure 2 shows the pictures of the final parts list.

Figure 1:  New robotic Arm

Figure 2: Parts List

Week 8

Summary

• We received feedback about our Final report.
• Our TA suggested that we should include more diagrams and pictures so others can get a better understanding of what we are doing. The text should compliment the figures, tables, and pictures.
• Nothing about the group should be mentioned in the final paper. It should only focus on the Coconut Harvesting Drone.
• He also said that we should use specific numbers, and claims that have evidence rather than making general statements.
• We created diagrams that show the general layout of the drone.
• We are planning on submitting another draft that is much more polished, so that the final report will not have any mistakes.

Week 7

Summary

• After researching more about our initial idea, we discovered that since the drone is about 1 meter wide, the coconut tree leaves might prevent the drone from getting close to the coconut in some cases. It is also a safety hazard if the drone gets too close to the leaves. Figure 1 shows a coconut tree where the leaves will prevent the drone from getting close to the coconut.

Figure 1: Coconut tree leaves are blocking direct access to the coconut (Source)

• To fix this, we decided to implement the idea of using a robotic arm, which was first thought of in week 5. Attaching the laser cutter to the robotic arm should allow the drone to cut the coconut at a safe distance.
• Table 1 shows the updated parts list with a robotic arm, and cheaper drone that has a higher takeoff weight.

Table 1: Updated parts list

Category	Part	Weight (kg)
Drone	Allied Drones HL88 "Nemesis"	-
Robotic Arm	Global Specialties R680 C-Programmable Banshi Robotic Arm	0.589
Laser Module	CNC Laser Engraver DIY Metal Marking Machine	2.400
Laser/Robotic Arm Battery	2x YUASA BATTERY NP4-12 12 V 4AH BATTERY	3.174
Camera	SportShot® - Full HD 1080P 12 MP Waterproof Sports Camera	0.0589
Total Weight		6.2219

• The Allied Drones HL88 "Nemesis" has a maximum takeoff weight of capacity of 8.2 kg. That is about 2 kg under the limit.

Week 6

Summary

• The XactSense Titan drone listed in last week's blog post was $120,000. This week we updated the parts list for the coconut harvesting drone to be more cost efficient. Table 1 shows all the parts and projected cost.
• We also found a light weight laser module  that is part of a Laser Engraver for steel Iron. We will take out just the laser diode module to fit on the drone so it will be light weight and output enough power to cut the coconut stem. More research is necessary to confirm this. The specifications are below.

Table 1: Budget for the Coconut Harvesting Drone Parts

Category	Item Name	Projected Cost
Drone Package	DJI Spreading Wings S1000+ A3+ Lightbridge 2	$ 3,699
Battery for drone	TBM Ultra Power DJI S1000 LiPoly Battery	$ 354.95
Laser Module	CNC Laser Engraver DIY Metal Marking Machine	$ 495.14
Battery for laser	YUASA BATTERY NP4-12 12 V 4AH BATTERY	$ 18.39
Camera	SportShot® - Full HD 1080P 12 MP Waterproof Sports Camera Cam	$ 49.99
TOTAL COST	$ 4,617.47

Laser Cutter

Figure 2: The black part in the top middle is the laser module

Specifications:

• Power output: 10 W
• Carving Materials: stainless steel, iron, aluminum, ceramics, stone, wood, bamboo, leather, plastics, etc.
• Weight: 2.4 kg (5.29 lbs)

Week 5

Summary

• This week we continued to work on the detailed report.
• The research raised some new questions involving the cutting mechanism.
• The laser cutter might be bulky and heavy whereas the robotic arm with a saw might not exert enough force to cut the branch. An example of the robotic arm with a saw is below.
• We came to the conclusion that more research is necessary in order to make a final decision. Also, we decided that we should focus on the laser cutter now and find sufficient evidence to rule this method out before moving further with the robotic arm with a saw.
• We researched  and found that the XactSense Titan is the drone that can support one of the highest payload.  The specifications are below.

 Robotic Arm with Saw

This video shows an example of robotic arm with a saw that can be modified and used for our project.

Operational Block Diagram 

Figure 1: Operational Block Diagram

 

 

XactSense Titan

Figure 2: Picture of  Proposed Drone

Specifications:

• Max Flight Time: 30 Minutes
• Number of Rotors: 8
• Wing Span: 1,300mm (51.2 in)
• Weight: 8,165 grams (18.0 lbs)
• Payload: 22,680 grams (50.0 Ibs) 

Week 4

Summary

       We have decided to make a detailed final report as the deliverable for this project. Although it was initially decided to submit a half-drone half-report deliverable, after some contemplation and deliberation, it was found that it is not a possible task to do so in this 10 week time period with very little knowledge in this field.

• The focus of the paper was determined, and an outline for the final paper was created.
• ​Each of the team members was assigned sections (figure 1), so they can start their research.
• Each member is required to have some info for the sections entitled to them before the next lab meeting.

Figure 1: Initial Outline with assigned tasks for the Detailed Report

Week 3

Summary

• This week, we contacted Daniel Christe from the mechanical engineering department seeking advice about how we should proceed with the project. Since there is not enough time or budget to build a prototype of the drone from scratch, we asked Daniel if it we could borrow a drone, and focus on the coconut harvesting aspects of this project. 

• Daniel replied saying that their UAV expert would not be available to help for another week.

• In the meantime, the group started working on the detailed report.

Week 2

 Summary

After thoroughly analyzing the Project Design Proposal, we deciding to produce a detailed report as the final deliverable rather than a working pro type.  The main reasons are listed below.

• The projected budget was much higher than we anticipated.
• The time required to research and learn the expertise required to build a fully functional drone and  building will exceed 7 weeks.
• Focusing on the research aspect of this project will create a strong foundation for development and construction of the drone for future projects (i.e Senior Design). 

Design Proposal

Abstract

Coconut production plays a key role in economic and cultural upliftment of many of India’s southern states. In fact, the state of Kerala is widely known as ‘land of coconut trees’. Harvesting coconut is becoming a difficult task since many of the trained workers are no longer working and the current generation is showing little interest in this whole concept. Thus, the invention of new machines is extremely necessary in order to save coconut farming. The goal of this project is to create a coconut harvesting drone which will revolutionize the coconut production in many of India’s southern states particularly Kerala. The aim of this drone is to cut ripe coconuts using its mounted laser cutter. This drone will be a manually controlled quad-copter, consisting of a camera and sensors to determine whether the coconut is ripe or not. Some of technical challenges that we might face during the production of drone would be determining adequate amount of power for moving parts of the drone, finding appropriate sensors that can tell whether the coconut is ripe or not, and a capable robotic arm that can cut the coconuts.

1. Introduction

The invention of drones revolutionized the world. From security to entertainment, drones are useful in almost all areas of our day to day life. Smart and intelligent use of drones will help  humans to easily accomplish many tasks which were previously very complicated or even impossible.

Week 1

Summary

• Formed the Group

• We created a group of 5 engineers in various fields.
• Deepak Rajan was chosen as the group leader
• Assigned different roles for group members

• Choosing Project Idea

• We wanted to do a project involving drone aircraft since it is a revolutionary up and coming technology.
• Since we are all from India, the professor guided us to thinking about creating something that will help developing countries.
• This inspired the idea of a Coconut Harvesting Drone.

After much brainstorming, we finalized the Coconut Harvesting Drone as the project idea. The main reasons are listed below:

• Original idea to the best of our knowledge
• There is a need for this drone as trained workers have become old and are no longer working, and there are only a few younger workers
• Immensely decreases the dangers surrounding coconut harvesting
• Makes the coconut harvesting process much more efficient, increasing profits for farmers and coconut retailers.