Development and performance evaluation of an oil palm harvesting robot for the elimination of ergonomic risks associated with oil palm harvesting

Abstract

This study was aimed at developing and evaluating the performance of an oil palm fresh fruit bunch harvesting robot that will eliminate the possible risks associated with oil palm harvesting. The result of this study showed that the average height of oil palm trees in the study area was 5.531 m, which shows the unsuitability of the existing traditional methods in the harvesting process. This study also used a geared DC motor to develop an oil palm harvester, solving the stability issue encountered by previous researchers during the harvesting process without necessarily reducing the climbing speed by a wide margin. In addition, the use of geared DC motor help in the production of high torque for the climbing process, and due to this high torque, instability during the harvesting process was reduced.