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
This group is
comprised of five engineers of different majors. This project will design a
drone which is capable of harvesting ripe coconuts. The main motivation for
this idea came from the Professor who advised to use drones to solve problems
in developing countries. All of the group members are from Kerala, where
coconut cultivation is a main agricultural
activity. But, harvesting coconuts is a challenge for farmers due to many
reasons like probability of fatal accidents while climbing the coconut tree,
lack of skilled labours, high labour cost etc.. In this situation, the group
thought that a drone might solve these problems and make the coconut
cultivation more profitable for farmers.
The proposed drone will be a
manually controlled quad-copter, equipped with a camera and a laser cutter on a
robotic arm. The group also plans to incorporate some kind of sensor to
accurately predict whether a coconut is ripe or not. Thus using the camera and
the sensor, the ground controller can determine which coconuts to harvest. The
laser cutter mounted on a robotic arm would help the controller to cut down the
coconut fruit. The major challenges of this design are to find adequate amount
of power for moving parts of the copter, find an appropriate sensor to
accurately predict whether the coconut is ripe or not, and finally design a
robotic arm capable of successfully cutting down a coconut. For the purpose of
this project, the group is planning to build a prototype of the drone with a
laser pointer rather than an actual laser cutter. Since this project is fairly
sophisticated, it can be revisited in future years, probably during the senior
design project. With the help and guidance of the faculty and advanced
engineers, this project can be successfully completed.
2. Deliverables
At the conclusion of this project,
the group will present a physical prototype of the Coconut Harvesting Drone.
This will be a manually controlled drone consisting of a camera, which can be
accessed through the controller. Originally, this drone was to include a
robotic arm that would have a blade attached, which enables the operator to harvest
the coconut. However, due to the time constraints and other technical
limitations, a laser pointer, which represents the laser cutter, will be placed
in the physical prototype in place of the bladed arm. Moreover, along with the
controller to control the drone, a sensor would be incorporated within the
drone to identify ripe coconuts. As it is mentioned earlier, it is a tough task
to produce a fully assembled and completed drone in this ten week time
interval. However, this physical prototype highlights the important aspects and
emphasizes the features of this drone. This prototype will definitely include
and represent components which are essential for the drone to function.
3. Technical Activities
As the production and assemblance
of the drone proves to be a uphill task, it is very essential to consider the
challenges that will arise during the process. In addition, none of the group
members have any type of prior experience in any of the elements in this
project. Therefore, every aspect of this project assures to be a new,
challenging learning experience for each of us. In order to complete this
project successfully, each step must be calculated and planned. Hence, the first
main task is to research and understand the project.
3.1 Literature Study and Research
To kick start
the project, understanding the project is the key element. Deciding to create a
drone is not enough to lauch the process. However, understanding what drone is
and how the group is using the drone and what the group is trying to accomplish
are key elements to have in mind. Understanding these key elements will make
way for many different questions, and ideas. Rising of these questions is the
sign that the group have moved on to the next stage in the process. Since the
group is creating a completely new product, it is necessary to do the research
and the background study to understand what is already out there and what the
group is trying to create. Moreover, this understanding mainly gives us the
boost which is needed to identify how the group can use the resources available
to create the product. Without the research and understanding, there will be no
structure to the project. This stage of the process launches the project and
puts everyone’s head in the right direction.
3.2 Ordering and Receiving materials
The next task is
to order the necessary materials. This task can be considered as the
continuation of the previous task. The group can only order materials when the
members know what is needed. Therefore, the ‘research’ step is very important
to keep the project moving. And, it is critical to order materials early since
it takes time to arrive. Therefore, as soon as the group determine the
necessary resources, the members must take initiative to acquire them. Without this
step, the project can not go further. Also, more research can be done in
between ordering and receiving materials.
3.3 Mechanical and Electrical Designing
Once the group
acquires the materials to assemble, it is time to design the product. This can
be considered as the most important task. It is mainly because none of the
group members have any prior experience in the mechanical designing or the
electrical designing of the drone. It is not only the most important task, but
also it will surely be the most
challenging. This part will require the most amount of time.
It takes time
to learn how to rightly attach the robot arm to the quad-copter. Adding the
laser pointer, symbolizing the laser cutter, to the robot arm needs to be taken
care of smoothly. Assembling the camera into the quad-copter and connecting to
the controller guarantees to be a difficult task as well. And, for this
project, accessing the camera through the controller is one of the key
elements.
Furthermore, the
electrical designing only adds up to the challenge. Manufacturing the electric
circuits are also critical. Controlling the camera and moving the robot arm in
the right direction while aiming the laser pointer are just a few elements that
comes under electrical designing.
Group members
will separate these tasks and counter attack these challenges through learning
the essential skills and effectively applying them. If two of the group members
take care of the mechanical aspect, then the others will be in charge of the
elecrical design. The group is planning to reach out to the specific
engineering departments within Drexel University and find assistance from them
to successfully complete the project.
3.4 System Integration and Finalization
In this
stage, each separate component of the drone has to be integrated and during
this process, unexpected issues might pop up. When each problem shows up, it
has to be analyzed and rectifed accordingly. After succesful integration of all
the components, the drone has to be tested to find any runtime errors that
might have gone undetected during the integration process. After this stage is
completed, the drone would be ready to demonstrate.
4. Project Timeline
Table 1: Project Timeline-Duration of Each Task
Week
|
||||||||||
Task
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
Literature study and Researches
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
||||||
Ordering and Receiving materials
|
x
|
x
|
||||||||
Mechanical designing
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
||||||
Electrical designing
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
|||||
System integration
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
|||||||
Finalization and Testing
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
|||||||
Final report and presentation preparation
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
|||||||
5. Facilities and Resources
This project is a huge challenge since the group mainly consists
of freshmen engineering students. To ease this, the group is expected to use
different resources available through Drexel university. The primary resource
the group is planning to use is the library, this is where the group is
expected to gather some background information about the functionality of
drones. This is very important since most of the group members do not have any
prior experience with drones. The group is also planning to get some advise
from faculty members who are familiar with drones and its funtionality. With
all these, the group is confident to create a design that would revolutionize
the coconut production in India.
6. Expertise
7. Budget
Table 2
outlines the budget for building the Coconut Harvesting Drone protoype. The
budget is broken down into four catgories which are explained in detail below.
The total projected cost adds up to about $320. This cost will only be accurate
if everthing works according to plan, but since that is highly unlikely, this
number should be considered as the minimum cost for this project.
Table 2: Budget for building protoype
Category
|
Projected Cost
|
Drone
|
$269.58
|
Laser Module
|
$13.18
|
Camera
|
$11.99
|
Shipping and taxes
|
$25
|
TOTAL COST
|
$319.75
|
7.1
Drone
Table 3: Parts for Drone
Part
|
Quantity
|
Projected Cost
|
Frame
|
1
|
$ 17.99
|
Motor
|
4
|
$ 64.80
|
Electronic Speed Control
|
4
|
$ 36.48
|
Flight
Control Board
|
1
|
$19.99
|
Radio Transmitter and Reciever
|
1
|
$59.99
|
Propeller
|
4
|
$3.24
|
Batter and Charger
|
1
|
$47.18
|
Misc. costs (cables, adapters, etc.)
|
-
|
$20
|
TOTAL COST
|
$ 269.58
|
|
The drone is the most essential aspect of this project
and makes up the majority of the budget. The different parts that make up the
drone are listed in Table 3. It is vital that the parts for the drone are
bought and assembled together as soon as possible, since the rest of the
project depends upon it. All the prices for the drone parts are from
hobbyking.com
7.2 Laser Module
The laser module in this protoype
represents the laser cutter in the actual Coconut Harvesting Drone. This laser
module will be connected to the drone’s power source, and curitary. The will
allow the drone controller to turn on and off the laser as necessary. The price
for this laser module is from Amazon.com
7.3 Camera
The camera will be used for
navigation and as one of the main methods of identitying a ripe coconut. The
camera should be able to send a live feed to the drone operator, so he or she
can determine whether to cut coconut
branch. For this protoype, a small webcam will be used to demostrated this
because a wireless camera and a screen will increase the cost dramatically. The
price for this webcam is from Amazon.com
7.4
Shipping and taxes
Tax costs
should remain at a minimum since most parts are being ordered from online
retailers. However, some parts for the drone are currently listed as
‘back-order’ so, taxes can become a factor if those parts are purchased from a
different vendor. Likewise, shipping costs should also be minimal since most
items will be purchased together and should qualify for free shipping. Stores
such as Amazon offer free shipping to orders over $ 49, so shipping costs
should be very low, if any. However, if items are not in stock, they will need
to be purcahsed from different sellers, and shipping costs could arise then.
No comments:
Post a Comment