Journal of Advanced Research in Embedded System

Volume 5, Issue 1&2 - 2018, Pg. No. 1-7

Peer Reviewed Journal
Research Article

Automatic Coconut Harvesting System

Mohammed Azarudeen A1, Karthikraja B2, Sundar Ganesh CS3, Srinath P4,
Karthikeyan P5
UG Student, 3Assistant Professor, Department of Robotics and Automation, PSG College of Technology,
1,2,4,5

Peelamedu, Coimbatore.

Abstract
The objective of the project is to make a cost-efficient coconut tree climber that will reduce human labor
and help farmers to get a better harvest. The majority of coconuts are harvested by climbing the trees and
cutting the nuts down by hand. So the need is to design and develop an automated coconut tree climber
which is economical and user friendly. The device consists of three main motors that are used to drive the
body. The driver used to drive the motor is L298D which is in turn controlled by a RF transmitter/receiver.
The remote control is a simple RF transmitter/receiver module. Power supply for different components
in the device is transmitted from the main power source, the battery, to the regulator to the receiver and
finally to the motor drivers. The result of the final model is checked by the customer to validate the usability
issues, safety measures and its function. The proposed concept is lighter than those existing by about 30%
and is expected to be of lower cost on account of aluminum used in its construction.

Keywords: RF transmitter, Control System, Harvesting robot, Embedded system

Introduction Due to the height and lack of branches, it is very difficult

The origin of the paper is from the need to automate the
harvesting process of tender coconut. Our aim is to build
a tele-operating coconut harvester that climbs and cuts
tender coconuts. It saves time, labor cost and is reliable.
The key thing is to make the job easier.
The both has to be fitted to the tree and once it is done the
both is made to climb the tree using a remote controller.
There is a 3-axis arm fixed to the both; once it reaches the
top position, the arm is used to cut tender coconuts which
is tele-operated. It can also tolerate the bends of the stems
up to a certain degree.
Coconut tree farms are all over the globe, which requires
harvesting of tender coconuts regularly. It is a huge field
and it still uses manual labor for the harvesting process,
which increases the labor cost and time. The major problem
is the unavailability of labor to harvest tender coconuts.
So the project is about building a tele-operated coconut
harvester.
to climb on coconut trees. A professional climber with
proper training only can climb a coconut tree. Due to the
risk involved, nowadays very few are coming forward to
climb on coconut trees. Due to the lack of professional
climbers, the existing professionals may charge more from
the owners. Coconut tree climbers are a rarity these days.
The scarcity of labor disrupts harvesting cycles causing loss
of income to the growers.
Primary goal of the study is to design a coconut tree
climbing and cutting device for farmers and residents. It
is very difficult to climb on coconut tree manually due to
the single constant cylindrical structure. In other types
of trees, there are branches for holding and to support
the climber. For designing of a coconut tree harvesting
device, it is very important to understand the customer’s
aspirations and market segments. The result of final model
is checked by the customer to validate the usability issues,
safety measures and its function. The proposed concept is
lighter than those existing by about 30% and is expected

Corresponding Author: Sundar Ganesh CS, Department of Robotics and Automation, PSG College of Technology, Peelamedu,
Coimbatore.
E-mail Id: sundarganeshsankaran@gmail.com
Orcid Id: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2041-5249
How to cite this article: Azarudeen AM, Karthikraja B, Ganesh CSS et al. Automatic Coconut Harvesting System. J Adv Res Embed
Sys 2018; 5(1&2): 1-7.

Copyright (c) 2018 Journal of Advanced Research in Embedded System (ISSN: 2395-3802)
Azarudeen AM et al.
J. Adv. Res. Embed. Sys. 2018; 5(1&2)
to be of lower cost on account of aluminum pipes used in
its construction in lieu of steel.
The device consists of three main motors that are used to
drive the base to climb and other three motors used to drive
the arm to cut. The driver used to drive the motor is L298D,
which is in turn controlled by an RF transmitter/receiver.
Manual Coconut Harvesting
In some parts of the world (Thailand and Malaysia), trained
pig-tailed macaques are used to harvest coconuts. Thailand
has been raising and training pig-tailed macaques to pick
coconuts for around 400 years. Training schools for pig-
tailed macaques still exist both in southern Thailand and
in the Malaysian state of Kelantan.
Traditional areas of coconut cultivation in India are the
Figure 1.Manual Harvesting Robot
Methodology
For fabrication, GI steel was used as the material because of
its high strength, weld ability, availability and low cost. The
next step was the selection of suitable powering device for
the gripping and vertical motion of the mechanism. For this,
we chose linear electrical actuators. For smooth operation,
we used three actuators, two for gripping, having a stroke
length of 15 cm and providing 4000N. For vertical motion,
an actuator having stoke length of 40 cm and capable of
providing 6000N was used. A 12-V DC battery was used to
provide power for the actuators. The prototype was made
as per the design and tested in real conditions, and suitable
modifications were made to the final model.
Various steps involved in the project are as follows:
• To study about the robotic arm with different axis
• Designing of the robotic arm (3-axis)
• Building the prototype and checking the requirements
• Re-designing and correcting the errors
• Selection of suitable materials such as aluminum pipes
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states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Pondicherry, Andhra
Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Odisha, and West Bengal and
the islands of Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar. As
per 2014-15 statistics from Coconut Development Board
of Government of India, four southern states combined
account for almost 90% of the total production in the
country: Tamil Nadu (33.84%), Karnataka (25.15%), Kerala
(23.96%), and Andhra Pradesh (7.16%). Other states, such
as Goa, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, and those in the
northeast (Tripura and Assam) account for the remaining
production. Though Kerala has the largest number of
coconut trees, in terms of production per hectare, Tamil
Nadu leads all other states. In Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore and
Tirupur regions top the production list. In Goa, the coconut
tree has been reclassified by the government as a palm
(like a grass), enabling farmers and real estate developers
to clear land with fewer restrictions.
and motors
• Constructing the working model and checking it in the
real environment
• Rectifying all the errors
Robotic Unit
This unit comprises of 12-V DC power supply, a robotic arm,
DC motors and servomotors. The motors are connected
to the microcontroller I/O pins. Suspension springs are
provided in all of the robotic wheels so that the robot is
able to do straight and spiral climbs. Wheels are driven
by three DC motors which are coupled to it. Also four
servomotors are used for performing the robotic arm
action. Two motors are for base movement, one for elbow
movement and one shoulder movement. At the tip of
the arm, there is a rotor blade provided which is used
for cutting purpose, it is driven by a DC motor. The robot
locates at center of mass outside of tree and uses wheels
to climb vertically. The wheel mechanism is designed for
a hybrid climbing method. The robot is able to switch
between straight and spiral climbs using compression

3 J. Adv. Res. Embed. Sys. 2018; 5(1&2)
spring mechanism. The harvesting mechanism consists of
an arm with three degree of freedom with a circular saw
as end effectors. The bunch of nuts is located by a vision
sensor (camera) which is placed at the wrist of the arm.
The nuts are harvested using the saw based on the output
received from the camera. The entire movement of the
robot and the harvesting mechanism is controlled using a
PC or android phones.
Controller Unit
This unit comprises of a PIC 16F877A microcontroller.
This is a RISC (reduced instruction set computing)
based microcontroller having analog input channels,
analog comparators and additional timer circuits. The
microcontroller is enabled and acts at commands given
through PC. The video captured by the wireless camera
is displayed on PC. Wireless communication between
microcontroller and PC is done through a Zigbee module.
Display Unit
The robot is provided with a wireless camera which is placed
on the robotic arm; it is used to locate the position of the
fruit and also the accurate position of the rotor blade. The
video captured by the wireless camera is monitored on the
PC so that we can precisely do the harvesting work. Figure
2 shows the block diagram of RF Module
Types of Motors
DC Motors
Direct Current (DC) motors are two-wire (power and
ground), continuous rotation motors. The speed of DC
motors is controlled using pulse width modulation (PWM),
a technique for rapidly pulsing the power on and off.
Fast, continuous rotation motors are used for anything that
needs to spin at a high RPM, e. g., car wheels, fans, etc.
Servo Motors
A servo motor is a rotary actuator or linear actuator that
allows for precise control of angular or linear position,
velocity and acceleration. It consists of a suitable motor
coupled to a sensor for position feedback. It also requires
a relatively sophisticated controller, often a dedicated
module designed specifically for use with servo motors.
Servo motors are used in applications such as robotics,
CNC machinery or automated manufacturing.
A servo motor is a closed-loop servo mechanism that uses
position feedback to control its motion and final position.
The input to its control is some signal, either analog or
digital, representing the position commanded for the
output shaft. The very simplest servo motors use position-
only sensing via a potentiometer and bang-bang control
Azarudeen AM et al.
of their motor; the motor always rotates at full speed (or
is stopped). This type of servo motor is not widely used
in industrial motion control, but it forms the basis of the
simple and cheap servos used for radio-controlled models.
Stepper Motors
A stepper motor or step motor or stepping motor is a
brushless DC electric motor that divides a full rotation into
a number of equal steps. The motor’s position can then
be commanded to move and hold at one of these steps
without any feedback sensor (an open-loop controller),
as long as the motor is carefully sized to the application
in respect to torque and speed.
Motors effectively have multiple “toothed” electromagnets
arranged around a central gear-shaped piece of iron. The
electromagnets are energized by an external driver circuit
or a micro controller. To make the motor shaft turn, first,
one electromagnet is given power, which magnetically
attracts the gear’s teeth. When the gear’s teeth are aligned
to the first electromagnet, they are slightly offset from
the next electromagnet. This means that when the next
electromagnet is turned on and the first is turned off,
the gear rotates slightly to align with the next one. From
there the process is repeated. Each of those rotations is
called a “step”, with an integer number of steps making
a full rotation. In that way, the motor can be turned by a
precise angle
Force and Torque Calculation
Torque (T)=Maximum Force (F)×Radius of the wheel
Maximum Force (F)=m*g*sine+FF
Where m – weight of the body in kg (approximately 5)
g – acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s2)
e – angle between the ground and the tree
Here, e=90
Force
F=5*9.81*sine°+3
=49+3N
=52N
Torque
T=52*0.05
=2.6 Nm
=26 kg/cm
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Azarudeen AM et al.
J. Adv. Res. Embed. Sys. 2018; 5(1&2)
The required torque for the device is 26 kg/cm in total. But
a single side shaft DC geared motor has a torque of 20 kg/
cm. Since we are using three DC geared motors, the total
torque sums up to 60 kg/cm. This means that the output
torque of the motor is more than enough for the device
and its additional components.
Working Principle
The working principle of the device includes:
• Connect the motors to the battery and start the motors.
• Feed in the required commands and check the working.
• Due to the rotary movement of the wheel in the device,
the device climbs upward.
• Circular alignment of the device holds the tree firmly.
• The robotic arm attached in the device is controlled
using RF module controller.
• By using vision system, a camera is placed in the device
and controlled.
Figure 2.Transmitter
Driver Hardware
The motors in the device are connected according to the
pin assigned in this diagram. Each driver can drive only
two motors, so two drivers are used to drive the three
motors in the device.
Driver Circuit
The 8-Channel 5-A RF remote control kit – S8CA-DC12 and
8 button transmitter – CV-8. It operates in eight working
modes and is also used to control at most eight on/off
electrical devices. Generally speaking, it is widely applied
to control every kind of lights, electrically operated doors/
gates/windows/blinds and so on. The working distance is
500 m. Normally, open and closed connective terminals
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• By the use of camera and the remote controller, the
robotic arm is functioned.
• The end-effector attached with the robotic-arm is used
to cut the coconut palm.
• This end-effector is also controlled by the remote
controller.
• Finally, the device climbs down using the reverse
mechanism.
RF Wireless Remote Control
RF-based wireless remote control system (RF transmitter
and RF receiver) can be used to control an output load
from a remote place.
This circuit complements the RF transmitter built around
the small 434
MHz Transmitter Module
Figure 2 shows the driver hardwore.
can connect to AC110~240 V or DC 0~28 V power supply.
Key Features of RF Module
1. Operating supply voltage up to 46 V
2. Total DC current up to 4 A
3. Low saturation voltage
4. Over-temperature protection
5. Logical – 0‖ input voltage up to 1.5 V (high noise
immunity)
Overview of RF Module
Wireless remote control switch has a very wide range of
applications of wireless control device; using microprocessor
intelligent control, it can be used in garage door control,
lightning control, remote control curtains in areas such as
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ease of use with the installation simple, safe and reliable.
As with any other RF device, the performance of an RF
module will depend on a number of factors. For example,
by increasing the transmitter power, a larger communication
distance will be achieved. However, this will also result in
a higher electrical power drain on the transmitter device,
which will cause shorter operating life for battery-powered
devices. Also, using a higher transmit power will make the
system more prone to interference with other RF devices,
and may in fact possibly cause the device to become illegal
depending on the jurisdiction. Correspondingly, increasing
the receiver sensitivity will also increase the effective
communication range, but will also potentially cause
malfunction due to interference with other RF devices.
It is ideal for robotic applications and is well suited for
connection to a microcontroller requiring just a couple
of control lines per motor. It can also be interfaced with
simple manual switches, TTL logic gates, relays, etc. Figure
3 shows the circuit diagram of an 8-channel 5-A RF module.

Figure 3.Circuit Diagram of an 8-Channel 5-A RF Module

Result simple RF transmitter/receiver module. The power supply
for different components in the device is transmitted from
The device is controlled using a remote control which has the main power source, the battery, to the regulator to the
to be tested before implementing. The remote control is a receiver and finally to the motor drivers.

Figure 4.Final Robot

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Azarudeen AM et al.
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The power source delivers 12 V which is converted to 5 V, the drivers can receive only up to 5 V. Figure 4 shows the
using the regulators. The conversion is important because device hardware without the end-effector.

Figure 5.Receiver
Figure 5 shows the receiver of the RF transmitter. Figure 6 shows the control system of the robot.

Figure 6.Control System

Conclusion
In this paper, a novel method for coconut tree harvesting
is proposed. The design of the hardware setup is discussed
and the controlling units
are designed. The shape and the material selected are
appropriate for the device to function. It will be important
to the implementation of robotic arm, provided by three
degrees-of-freedom (DoF). This robot can be able to
understand its surroundings and become a completely
automated device with an in-built frequency detector to
ensure that only the tender coconuts are being harvested.
Thus, the device will itself set its target and identify
the coconuts to be harvested. It makes the robot fully
autonomous. Further work in the control system and the
design of the base would allow the robot to react to its
surroundings and it can be made to carry those harvested
coconuts from the farm to the storage area by itself, thus
transforming the robot into a complete autonomous
harvester and transporter robot. In the future, the climber
can be fully automated. Instead of manual controlling,
the whole operation can be programmed into a micro
controller. Pressure sensors can be used to determine
how much pressure to be applied after the bush comes
in contact with the wood. A robotic arm can be used to
harvest coconuts. Ph sensors can be used to differentiate
between tender coconut and coconut. At present GI steel
is used as the material. It can be replaced with aluminum
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Date of Submission: 2018-02-28
Date of Acceptance: 2018-01-03
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