Ergonomic Considerations for Development of Grass Cutter-Cum-Paddy Harvester

Mali P. R.,Aware V. V.,Shahare P. U.,Powar R. V.,Aware S. V. 한국농업기계학회 2022 바이오시스템공학 Vol.47 No.4

Purpose This research aims to develop a grass cutter-cum-paddy harvester (GCCPH) based on ergonomic and mechanical considerations and compare the performance of a developed GCCPH with a shoulder-mounted brush cutter (SMBC). Method The developed GCCPH consists of cutter blade (paddy harvesting)/trimmer head (grass cutting), windrowing system (paddy), grass guard (grass), transmission shaft, engine, handle, frame, tilting mechanism, and swinging lever. The handle and swinging lever of GCCPH were developed from anthropometric data of male workers in Maharashtra’s Konkan area. A grass cutter-cum-paddy harvester (GCCPH) was developed considering the operators’ ergonomic parameters. Also, the comparative performance of GCCPH and shoulder mounted brush cutter (SMBC) was conducted. The developed GCCPH was compared with SMBC in terms of working heart rate (WHR), work pulse (ΔHR), oxygen consumption rate (OCR), energy expenditure rate (EER), overall discomfort rating (ODR), body part discomfort score (BPDS), feld capacity (FC), and feld efciency (FE) for paddy harvesting and grass cutting operation. Result According to the fndings, the ∆HR, ∆OCR, ODR, and BPDS of GCCPH were reduced by 30.9%, 21.4%, 24.2%, and 59.6%, respectively, in paddy harvesting operations when compared to SMBC. In grass cutting operations, ∆OCR, ODR, and BPDS scales were reduced by 10.9%, 20.8%, and 15.1%, respectively, as compared to SMBC, but ∆HR was increased by 21.7% than SMBC. Compared to SMBC, GCCPH’s feld capacity was enhanced by 11.1% for paddy harvesting and 7.1% for grass cutting operations. Conclusion The study proved that the developed GCCPH overcomes the issue led by the SMBC. As a result, the developed GCCPH is best option for the farmers from the Konkan region for harvesting paddy and cutting grass.

Finger Millet Threshing and Pearling Technologies in India: a Comprehensive Review

R. V. Powar,V. V. Aware,S. B. Patil,K. G. Dhande,P. U. Shahare 한국농업기계학회 2020 바이오시스템공학 Vol.45 No.2

Purpose This paper presents the recent advances in finger millet processing technologies (FMPTs). In the last decade, many researchers have worked on FMPTs; however, there is a lack of collective information. Therefore, this study comprehensively reviews the recent developments in FMPTs. Methods The different design, development, and performance aspects of finger millet (FM) threshing, pearling, and cleaning are comprehensively reviewed and discussed in this manuscript. Results The different technologies associated with FM processing, viz. threshing, pearling, and cleaning, are summarized with their merits, demerits, and constructional details. Furthermore, the different design, and development aspects of these technologies are studied and reported. Conclusions This comprehensive review on FMPTs helps to identify the research gap and establish a platform for optimum design and development for the future. Additionally, this helps to improve the level of mechanization in FMprocessing. From the review of existing research, the development trend of FMPTs toward the finger millet thresher-cum-pearler (FMTCP) that performs threshing, pearling, and cleaning operation in a single pass. The current requirement is to develop a lightweight, high-performance, and energy-efficient FMTCP that can operate on a single-phase household power supply.

Development and Evaluation of Finger Millet Thresher-Cum-Pearler

R. V. Powar,V. V. Aware,S. B. Patil,P. U. Shahare 한국농업기계학회 2019 바이오시스템공학 Vol.44 No.4

Traditionally, the threshing, pearling, and cleaning operation of finger millet (FM) is performed manually. It is characterized as low output, time-consuming, laborious, and uneconomical. Also, to get finished grains from FM panicles one-time threshing, one-time pearling, and two-times cleaning operation are needed. To overcome this problem a 2-hp single-phase electric motoroperated finger millet thresher-cum-pearler (FMTCP) was developed, that performs all respective operations in a single pass. The feed rate of developed FMTCP is 36 kg/h. Its performance was carried out as per IS:6284-1985 test code, and economic analysis were done by IS:9164-1979 test code. The energy audit of FMTCP and manual FM processing was carried out. The developed FMTCP shows the threshing efficiency, pearling efficiency, cleaning efficiency, and total grain loss of 99.51 + 0.11%, 98.22 + 0.31%, 96.51 + 0.25%, and 2.35 + 0.07%, respectively at moisture content (MC) 10% (db). Manually, threshing capacity, pearling capacity, cleaning capacity after threshing, and cleaning capacity after pearling were found as 24.3 kg/h, 11.23 kg/h, 11.6 kg/h, and 9.1 kg/h, respectively. The benefit-cost ratio and payback period were found as 7.25 and 10.80 months, respectively. Manual FM processing capacity was found eight times less than that of the FMTCP. The energy consumption of FMTCP was 44% less than that of manual FM processing. It proved that the traditional processing of FM is energy-intensive.

Selection of Voltage Vectors in Three-Level Five-Phase Direct Torque Control for Performance Improvement

Yogesh N. Tatte,Mohan V. Aware 전력전자학회 2016 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.16 No.6

This paper presents a Direct Torque Control (DTC) strategy for the five-phase induction motor driven by a three-level five-phase inverter in order to improve the performance of the five-phase induction motor. In the proposed DTC technique, only 22 voltage vectors out of 243 available voltage vectors in a three-level five-phase inverter are selected and are divided in 10 sectors each with a width of 36˚. The four different DTC combinations (DTC-I, II, III and IV) for a three-level five-phase induction motor drive are investigated for improving the performance of five-phase induction motor. All four of the DTC strategies utilize a combination of the same large and zero voltage vectors, but with different medium voltage vectors. Out of these four techniques, DTC-II gives the best performance when compared to the others. This DTC-II technique is analyzed in detail for improvements in the performance of five-phase induction motor in terms of torque ripple, x-y stator flux and Total Harmonics Distortion (THD) of the stator phase current when compared to its two-level counterparts. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed three-level five-phase DTC control strategy, a DSP based experimental system is build. Simulation and experimental results are provided in order to validate the proposed DTC technique.

Selection of Voltage Vectors in Three-Level Five-Phase Direct Torque Control for Performance Improvement

Tatte, Yogesh N.,Aware, Mohan V. The Korean Institute of Power Electronics 2016 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.16 No.6

This paper presents a Direct Torque Control (DTC) strategy for the five-phase induction motor driven by a three-level five-phase inverter in order to improve the performance of the five-phase induction motor. In the proposed DTC technique, only 22 voltage vectors out of 243 available voltage vectors in a three-level five-phase inverter are selected and are divided in 10 sectors each with a width of $36^{\circ}$. The four different DTC combinations (DTC-I, II, III and IV) for a three-level five-phase induction motor drive are investigated for improving the performance of five-phase induction motor. All four of the DTC strategies utilize a combination of the same large and zero voltage vectors, but with different medium voltage vectors. Out of these four techniques, DTC-II gives the best performance when compared to the others. This DTC-II technique is analyzed in detail for improvements in the performance of five-phase induction motor in terms of torque ripple, x-y stator flux and Total Harmonics Distortion (THD) of the stator phase current when compared to its two-level counterparts. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed three-level five-phase DTC control strategy, a DSP based experimental system is build. Simulation and experimental results are provided in order to validate the proposed DTC technique.