IMPLEMENTATION OF LOW COST AUTOMATON

(HUSK REMOVING FROM THE COCONUT AND TAKING FRESH COCONUT

OUTSIDE WITH AUTOMATION)

(OWN PROJECT)

GLOBAL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

AUTHOR:
M.JAGADDEESH GLOBAL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Mail: meswarjagadeesh@gmail.com Mobile: 9866000110

CONTENTS:
Need Schematic diagram , project photo working Description of components Sequence of operation Advantages of our project conclusion scope for future work biblography

ABSTRACT:
The outer shell (husk) of the coconut is removed for various purposes like extraction of oil, coir products, preparation of food items, etc. Until now the shell of the coconut is removed manually. The manual dehusking involves risk due to injury and consumes more time to dehusk (peel) the coconut shell and labor fatigue. This leads to less productivity and more labor cost. To overcome this, there is a need to automate the dehusking process. The invention of the project is that, the removal of the husk of coconuts by low cost automation. This project technique consists of pair of curved shells, multi hooks and two double acting pneumatic cylinders to remove the husk of the coconut, and one single acting pneumatic cylinder to hold and press the coconut. Here 5/2 spring return single solenoid direction control valve is used to actuate the two pistons which are used to remove the husk and 2/2 single solenoid direction valve is used to actuate the holding cylinder which press and hold the coconut in the shell. Pressure used is 10-12 bar.

OBJECTIVES:
The following are the objectives of the project 1. To automate the process of Dehusking with low cost Holding the coconut Pressing the coconut into hook Peeling the outer shell of the coconut Control of the operation of the system

2. To design, model and assembly of the components of the system

NEED:
Low Cost Automation (LCA), the buzzword in all industrial firms generally involves pneumatic, electrical as well as electronic components. LCA is important in the automation of factories, for example, the electronic component assembly plants. Automation saves a lot of tedious manual work and speeds up the production processes.

The outer shell (husk) of the coconut is removed for various purposes like extraction of oil, coir products, preparation of food items, etc. The outer shell is now being removed manually. Manual dehusking involves risk and consumes more time. This leads to less productivity and more labour cost. To overcome this, there is a need to automate the dehusking process.

Agriculture is a potential area for automation. Automation can be applied for activities like irrigation, harvesting, ploughing, weeding, etc. Our project aims at automating the process of removing the outer shell of the coconut by help of pneumatics and mechanical parts.

WORKING:

DEHUSKING
Dehusking is the process of removing the outer shell of the coconut. Both the shell and the coconut are of extreme use in the global market. Right from coir to food processing industries use coconut and its by product. Automation in this field would certainly satisfy the market.

AUTOMATION
Automation is the technology concerned with the application of mechanical, electronic and computer based systems to operate and control production. Various automation system include Robots Automatic welding Automatic irrigation Automatic moisture control Automatic harvesting Feed back control and computer process control

TYPES OF AUTOMATION
Automation can be classified into 3 basic types. They are Fixed Automation Programmable Automation Flexible Automation

In Fixed automation the sequence of processing or assembly operation are fixed by the equipment configuration. In programmable automation the production equipment is designed with the capability to change the sequence of operation. Flexible automation is an extension of programmable automation where no time is lost for change over between products.

REASON FOR AUTOMATING:

To remove the husk easily To increase productivity To reduce manual power To reduce the risks and accidents To reduce labour cost and time consumption.

METHODS OF ATTAINING AUTOMATION: Automation can be attained by the following ways

Hydraulics Pneumatics Electric control MANUAL NO. OF COCONUTS / hour RISK TIME AUTOMATION

25* MORE MORE

250* LESS LESS

* Approximately Comparison between manual and automatic.

COMPONENTS OF DEHUSKING MACHINE: The various elements of the coconut dehusking machine typically consist of the following elements.

Hooks: The hooks are made of HSS which are very sharp and the material HSS is
used to withstand the stress and deformation while removing the shell. The hooks are very important material to dehusk the coconut. The sharp edge pierces into the coconut and help to remove the outer shell.

Curved shells: A Pair of shells is used, which has multi hooks present at its
bottom and two cylinders are attached to it. The coconut will be placed here and the shell will hold the coconut. The pair of shells are made up of mild steel and attached to the base with help of hinges present at its tangential curve. Hence the shell can be oscillated when the cylinder moves linearly.

Cylinders and direction control valves: To dehusk the coconuts, three

cylinders are used here. Two double acting cylinders are used to perform oscillate movement of the shells and one single acting cylinders are used here to press and hold the coconut. To actuate these cylinders, 2/2 single solenoid DCV and 4/2 single solenoid spring return DCV are used.

Base Table: The base table should handle all the loads exerted by the cylinders,
self-weight of each component mounted, external mountings without any vibration and bending.

Control Box: The control box is the nerve of the automatic coconut dehusking
machine. It consists of solenoid operated direction control valves, flow control valves, switches, indicators, driver circuits and relays.

DESCRIPTION OF EQUIPMENT
The complete equipment has been described under the categories of mechanical, pneumatics, and Control Circuit.

MECHANICAL COMPONENTS

BASE TABLE

Base Table
The base table is an important component of the system. The flange, rotating part and other components of the system are mounted on the base table. The base table is designed so that to withstand the shock load and vibrations generated by the system. The size of the base table is 570 X 820 mm.

HOOK BLADES:
Hooks are placed at the bottom of the shell. It is capable of piercing the outer shell of the coconut. It is placed all around the inner circumference of the cylinder, so that all the hooks can pierce into the shell of the coconut. It is made of high carbon steel (HCS) which is sharp at the end.

CURVED SHELL
A Pair of shells is used, which has multi hooks present at its bottom and two cylinders are attached to it. The coconut will be placed here and the shell will hold the coconut. The pair of shells are made up of mild steel and attached to the base with help of hinges present at its tangential curve. Hence the shell can be oscillated when the cylinder moves linearly. Multi hooks are placed at the bottom of the shell. So that when coconut is placed and pressed in the shell, the multi hooks get pierced into the shell. Also at the bottom of the shell (opposite side of the shell where hooks are attached), hinges are present to hold the piston of the cylinder.

PNEUMATIC CYLINDERS
The pneumatic cylinder is an actuator, which converts air pressure into linear motion. When the pressure on one side of the piston is relatively higher than on the other side, it results in linear displacement. The speed of traversal is proportional to the pressure difference.

DOUBLE ACTING CYLINDER

A "double-acting" cylinder has two ports through which the supply of air is reversed to cause displacement in either direction. The general specification for a pneumatic cylinder is in terms of the bore diameter of the cylinder, the stroke length of the piston and the maximum operating pressure range.

PARAMETER Make Stroke Length Bore Diameter Max Pressure

VALUE JANATICS 160mm 40mm 20 bar

Specifications of double acting cylinder

DOUBLE ACTING CYLINDER

SINGLE ACTING CYLINDER A "single-acting" cylinder has a single port for compressed air. The forward stroke takes place when the air is fed in the input port; the return stroke takes place when the air supply to the input port is stopped. This is achieved by the spring force inside the cylinder.

SINGLE ACTING CYLINDER

PARAMETER Make Stroke Length Bore Diameter Max Pressure

VALUE JANATICS 80mm 30mm 20 bar

Specifications of single acting cylinder

FRL UNIT
The FRL unit is to make air a more acceptable fluid medium for the pneumatic system as well as operating personnel. It includes the filter, and regulator. The filter is to remove contaminants from the air before it reaches pneumatic components. They remove contaminants in the range of 5-50 microns. The baffling system is used to remove contaminants. The service unit type FR consists of a filter, a regulator, and a regulating type 4fr, these components are also available separately.

AIR COMPRESSOR
The air compressor is the chief source of pressure energy in a pneumatic system. A simplified compressor has two ports suction and delivery and a piston-cylinder assembly where the piston is coupled to a rotating crank. When the crank is rotated by means of an electric motor or heat engine, the piston reciprocates inside the cylinder. During the inward (suction) stroke, air enters the chamber and during the outward (delivery) stroke, the air is compressed and exhausts through the delivery. This type of compressors is called positive displacement reciprocating type.

CONTROL VALVES
Control valves or proportional valves are power-operated devices used to modify fluid flow or pressure rate in a process system. Control valves are devices for stopping or modifying the passage of media through a pipe, outlet, inlet, or the like. Control valves

are used throughout industry in many applications. Control valve suppliers offer an amazing assortment of control valves, including: flow control valves, idle air control valves, water control valves, water flow control valves, hydraulic control valves, directional control valves, air control valves, temperature control valves, pneumatic control valves, and pressure control valves..

DIRECTION CONTROL VALVE (DCV)

DCVs are used to control the direction of flow of fluid through a pneumatic system. There are various types of DCVs based on number of ports and number of positions of operation. In this project two direction control valves are used. The 2/2 single solenoid DCV is used to actuate the single acting cylinders and 5/2 single solenoid spring return DCV used to actuate the double acting cylinders. The specifications are given below. PARAMETER Make Actuation Mechanism Return mechanism Actuating Voltage Type VALUE JANATICS Solenoid Spring 230 V A.C 5/2 valve PARAMETER Make Actuation Mechanism Return mechanism Actuating Voltage Type VALUE AIRMAX Solenoid Spring 230 V A.C 3/2 valve

Specification of solenoid for double acting & for single acting cylinder

FLOW CONTROL VALVE

Flow control valve consists of an orifice through which the flow of air is restricted. It is used to impede free flow through a section of pneumatic system. Variable flow control valves are used to vary the impedance caused to free flow across a passage. The location of flow control valves with respect to other components and the work load is quiet important because it has as effect on the characteristic of the circuit performance.

CONTROL CIRCUITS
Control circuits perform the functions of controlling the automation system as well as the various components of the Automatic Coconut Dehusking System. The components of the control circuit are explained below.

ELECTRO PNEUMATIC CIRCUIT:

To remove the outer shell of the coconut, three cylinders should be actuated in synchronizing manner. Firstly, the press and hold cylinder is actuated and followed by the shell actuating cylinders simultaneously. The press and cylinder is actuated by 2/2 single solenoid DCV and the shell actuating cylinders are actuated by 4/2 single solenoid spring return DCV.

LIMIT SWITCHES
A limit switch is a control switch mechanically operated by the moving part of machine, when it reaches a pre-determined position. A limit switch interlocks a mechanical motor or position with an electrical circuit. The following are the specifications of the limit switches used in the project.

PARAMETER Actuator Head Contact arrangement Maximum Voltage Maximum Current

VALUE Roller type plunger actuator Normal stroke 250V AC 5amp

Limit Switch Specifications

WORKING
The working guidelines of the automatic coconut dehusking machine is explained below Switch ON the system Specify the mode of operation (manual or Automatic) Check the input air supply is 12 bar

Use Emergency stop incase of any problem SEQUENCE OF OPERATIONS :

STEP PARAMETER FUNCTION

Cylinder 1 ON

Press and hold the coconut

Cylinder 2 and Cylinder 3 ON and Performs the movement of shell OFF to peel the outer shell of the coconut.

Cylinder 1 OFF

Leaves the coconut freely.

Advantages of our system:

Improved safety Increases the productivity. Reduces the risk and accidents. Avoids manual effort. Reduces labor cost and time consumption.

CONCLUSION
Thus an low cost automated project has been implemented in the field of agriculture to reduce the man power completely and to increase the productivity.

SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK

The implemented Automatic Coconut Dehusking Machine can be made further advanced by the following ways: Spring arrangements can be made for accommodating coconut of different sizes. The loading and unloading of the coconut can be automated by conveyor which can be driven by stepper motor or other drives by control of PLC or microcontroller. Separate conveyors can be used, one for collecting the coconut and the other for collecting the husk.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
PNEUMATIC CONTROL - Werner Deppert/Kurt Stoll 1986 PNEUMATIC APPLICATION - Werner Deppert/Kurt Stoll 1986 AUTOMATED ASSEMBLY - Jack. D.Lane(Society of Engg.Michigan, 1986) ASSEMBLY AND ASSEMBLY AUTOMATIONDr.V.Radhakrishnan manufacturing

Professor,IIT,Madras.(Engg. staff college of hyderabad.1986) STRENGTH OF MATERIALS R.K.Rajput FLUID POWER-ANTHONY ESPOSITO AUTOMATION AND PRODUCTION SYSTEM - Mikell P Groover