ASTRo

What it does

The machine will aid farmers by providing the accuracy, proper timing, and tedding recommended for pavement sun drying. This brings solution to this labor intensive process which can highly affect grain quality when mismanaged.

Your inspiration

Added to the decline in the number of farmers in the country, most Filipino farmers still rely on the laborious process of pavement sun drying. This inspired our team to implement this automation to significantly bring aid to agricultural communities and contribute to the food security and economy of the country. We aim to encourage engineering students to develop projects for our country’s agricultural equipment mechanisation to improve the lives of the Filipino farmers. This is to lead them towards progress and education by assisting them in accomplishing laborious agricultural tasks to meet the increasing demand in capacity and quality.

How it works

The operation starts by collecting one 1 x 1 sq. meter plot of paddy. After identifying if the moisture content is above the accepted dry value using a moisture meter probe installed in the bin, it returns and flattens the collected paddy to the ground and continues this procedure stirring each column every 30 minutes. When the robot finds a dry value, it will begin the collection module. Here, the robot will sweep a 1m x 1m plot into its collecting bin. The robot then proceeds to move backwards up a bagging ramp aligning itself to the bagging mechanism and opens the collection bin. The filled bag must be manually removed and replaced. This cycles until the entire drying field is collected. The robot aligns itself to each column using a vision system that follows the position of orange cones in designated spots around the plot. As for the bagging mechanism, it uses a line following sensor to detect a positioned line leading to the ramp.

Design process

The design of the mechanism went through different iterations from a vacuum-based to using a plow design to eventually using the sweeping mechanism. The initial vacuum design, although easier and faster, would cost more in terms of power consumption which is not ideal for a whole day of operation. The final design utilises a conveyor with a sweeping mechanism that could both do tedding and collecting of rice paddy. The conveyor is the central and most important mechanism of the robot as it is designed to accomplish the objectives of the robot making its design crucial to the overall performance of the robot. A bagging mechanism was also integrated which can hold a specific amount of paddy at a time and, depending on its moisture content, return the paddy to the ground.

How it is different

Current agricultural technologies for rice farming used in the country are focused on post-processing. Although there are available modern mechanical dryers, many Filipino farmers still prefer to use sun drying which is clean and, in a sense, free. There are also grain collectors that are not widely used due to its cost. Our design takes advantage of solar drying by improving the process. The device we developed can manage a fixed-plot of rice paddy while sun drying following the recommended 30-minute interval for stirring which ensures even drying and less grain damage. When the desired moisture level has been reached, ASTRo will be the one to collect all the paddy without the need to change or add on to the robot.

Future plans

The team plans on redesigning ASTRo to make it semi-automated with most of the features retained. This would be ideal for farmers who would like to still tend to their paddy. Furthermore, widening the coverage of the conveyor to accommodate more rice paddy per tedding would greatly increase the speed of stirring and collection. The team also intends to look into modifying the mechanism wherein it can be mounted on a tractor.

Awards

- Special Citation, Magsaysay Future Engineers/Technologists, National Academy of Science and Technology, 2016 - Most Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis, Manufacturing Engineering and Management, Ge La Salle University, 2016