Design of an Integrated Cotton Picking System for Small-Scale Indian Agriculture
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v004t05a028-detc2017-68132.pdf
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1.98 MB
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Author(s)
Bautista, Brittany N.
Diaz Lankenau, Guillermo Fabian
Guitron, Steven P.
Jennings, Brandon Douglas
Nechlani, Rajkumar aka Ra
Tang, Astera S.
Tucker, Matthew Ryan
Winter, Amos G.
Date Issued
August 2017
Journal
Volume 4: 22nd Design for Manufacturing and the Life Cycle Conference; 11th International Conference on Micro- and Nanosystems
Publisher
ASME International
Citation
Bautista, Brittany N., Guillermo F. Diaz Lankenau, Steven P. Guitron, Brandon D. Jennings, Rahul Nechlani, Astera S. Tang, Matthew R. Tucker, and Amos G. Winter. “Design of an Integrated Cotton Picking System for Small-Scale Indian Agriculture.” Volume 4: 22nd Design for Manufacturing and the Life Cycle Conference; 11th International Conference on Micro- and Nanosystems (August 6, 2017). doi:10.1115/detc2017-68132.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
India, the world's largest producer of cotton, contains more than 4 million cotton farms that are less than 5 acres. These farms are incapable of large-scale mechanization due to small farm size and irregular farm shape. A previous team developed a handheld, roller-based picking device that demonstrated increased performance over similar products. However, a significant improvement in productivity requires increasing picking speed through mechanization as well as increasing worker cotton carrying capacity. We present a system that utilizes the roller-based picking device in tandem with a compressive storage bag and an efficient carrier. Through modeling and initial testing, the system demonstrates a two times (2X) improvement in worker productivity over current methods. This paper characterizes the cotton picking process, details the modules of the integrated system, and suggests further procedural improvements for greater increases in worker productivity.
MIT Department
MIT-SUTD Collaboration
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2017-68132
