THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF AN AUTOMATED VEGETABLE CUTTER

By

BANDA HELLEN 13056585

SUPERVISOR : MR. MASENDEKE D.M.

Report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of
Engineering with honours,

Copperbelt University
DECLARATION

This thesis is submitted as partial fulfilment for the award of a BEng (Hons) in Mechatronics
Engineering.

The effort in the report is the result of my own research. All areas of the texts and results which
have been gotten from other sources are fully referenced. I comprehend that cheating and
plagiarism constitute a breach of University regulations and academic honesty, and this will be
dealt with accordingly.

Miss Banda Hellen

Signed: ______________ Date: ________________

Mr. Masendeke D. M

Signed: ______________ Date: ________________

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COPYRIGHT

The copyright of this report belongs to the writer under the terms of the Copyright Act 1987 as
qualified by Regulation 4(1) of the Multimedia University Intellectual Property Rules. Due credit
shall always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this report.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor Mr Masendeke D.M. for the patience
and knowledge imparted to me during the course of the project. I would also want to thank the
workshop supervisors Mr. Mutale S. and Mr. Mambwe for the guidance during the fabrication of
the machine and Mr Miyoba for the support and encouragements. Additionally, I would like to
thank my friends and my family for the support and the ideas brought forward towards the
success of this project. Finally, sincere gratitude goes to Jehovah for the guidance throughout the
project.

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DEDICATION

The enormous amount of work done during the course of this project could have not been
successful without the encouragement of people who I associate with. Hence I dedicate the
works of this project to them.

To God Almighty, whose grace and love have been so sufficient to see me through in all my
struggles in life.

To my parents, Mr. and Mrs Banda, whose unwavering faith in me has been the driving force in
my life- their unconditional love and prayers remain my unremitting source of strength.

To Mr and Mrs Kamanga, who persistently reminded me to do my best and helped me all the
way. To my sisters and friends Alinifa, Grace, Jessy, Ethel, Fanny, Racheal, Like, Jacqueline,
Jane

To Mr and Mrs Chilombo, Mr and Mrs chirwa, Mrs Luhanga, for the support and encouragement
rendered unto me. Lastly to my best friend Luhanga Mbela

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ABSTRACT

The project was aimed at designing and fabrication of an automatic vegetable cutter

It is worth noting that there are machines already in existence that carryout such a similar
purpose. Nonetheless, this project aims at adjusting some of the existing designs so as to come
up with a localized, cost effective and easy to handle.

The main objectives were to:

 To redesign the human powered vegetable cutter

 To select materials

 To fabricate and assemble the components

 To test the machine

With the increased demand of saving on time in the food processing industry and also the need to
reduce on manual methods that are related with the understandable constraints such as
unnecessary length of time, tediousness and boredom joined with inherent unsanitary
circumstances surrounding the manual methods. Results obtained from the automated vegetable
cutting machine show that it is time efficient and safer to use in homes. The optimum operating
conditions obtained were as follows:

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................2

COPYRIGHT .............................................................................................................................3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................................4

DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................5

ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................................6

GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................................. 10

CHAPTER ONE ....................................................................................................................... 11

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 11

1.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 11

1.1 Background .................................................................................................................... 12

1.2 Problem Statement ......................................................................................................... 12

1.3 Aim ................................................................................................................................ 12

1.4 Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 12

1.5 Scope ............................................................................................................................. 13

1.6 Methods ......................................................................................................................... 14

1.7 Motivation ...................................................................................................................... 14

CHAPTER TWO ...................................................................................................................... 15

LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................... 15

2.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 15

2.1 Types of Vegetable Cutters............................................................................................. 15

2.2 Types of Vegetables. ...................................................................................................... 20

2.3 Methods of Cutting Vegetables. ...................................................................................... 21

................................................................................................................................................. 26

................................................................................................................................................. 26

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 2.4 MOTORS SELECTIONS............................................................................................. 26

MOTOR SIZING CALCUTIONS ............................................................................................. 29

CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................ 35

METHODS .............................................................................................................................. 35

3.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 35

3.1 Design Concept ............................................................................................................. 35

3.2 MECHANICAL COMPONENTS ................................................................................ 35

3.2.0 Tools for mechanical design ....................................................................................... 35

3.2.1 Mechanical design procedure ..................................................................................... 35

3.2.2 Determination of mechanical parts ............................................................................ 36

3.2.1 Final mechanical view ................................................................................................. 38

CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................... 46

DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS ...................................................................................... 46

4.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 46

4.1 Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 46

4.1.0 Power ....................................................................................................................... 46

4.1.1 Torque...................................................................................................................... 47

4.1.2 Matlab simulations .................................................................................................. 49

CHAPTER FIVE..................................................................................................................... 51

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................... 51

5.0 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 51

5.1 Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 51

5.2 Recommendations......................................................................................................... 51

APPENDIX B- GANTT CHART ........................................................................................ 52

TABLE 2: BUDGET............................................................................................................ 53

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 APPENDIX B-DETAILED DRAWINGS ........................................................................... 54

REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 57

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GLOSSARY

r – Rotational radius

P – Power

T – Torque

ω – Angular velocity

W – Weight

n – Rotational speed

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 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Cutting vegetables has for a long time been done using conventional methods such a using a
knife in the kitchen, but this has come a lot of risk of injury and a lot of labour in times where the
vegetables are a lot and also an extreme risk of bacteria transfer to and from the vegetables being
cut. In an effort to overcome the factor aforementioned, technology has been used for the good
of humanity to eradicate time wastage and avoid injuries that is involved during the conventional
method of cutting vegetables.

It is the purpose of this project to bring key concepts to business personnel and households less
time consuming and efficient methods of cutting vegetables. Key terms that will be frequently
noted in this report are: design, manufacture, vegetables, and cutting.

Therefore, this Chapter outlines the objectives/ aims of the project. Additionally, it presents the
methods of how the project will be carried out. Furthermore, it outlines the motivation and
background of the project. Finally, it presents the possibility of carrying out the project which is
outlined through the budget and the Gantt chart on how long it will take to complete the project.

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1.1 Background
Generally, with the increased number of technological advancements in the world, many African
homes and business persons like restaurants have lagged behind in terms of proper cutting tools
and grading of their products compared to the developed countries. The food processing industry
in developed countries has been using vegetable machines for the purpose of meeting the
customer requirement and to reduce on time for cutting.

In Zambia, the majority of the restaurant use traditional methods of cutting (that is to use the
knife) and grating tools. This method is laborious and needs a lot of efforts and time to be
successfully carried out, hence the need of an automatic vegetable cutter.

1.2 Problem Statement

All over the world and Zambia in particular, there have been cases of injuries during the
processes of cutting vegetables and it has become of great consideration to automate the process
of cutting vegetables in an effort to overcome some of the negative effects that the conventional
method comes with.

1.3 Aim
The aim of this project was to design and fabricate an automatic vegetable cutter

1.4 Objectives
The various objectives of the project are highlighted below:

 To redesign the human powered vegetable cutter

 To select materials

 To fabricate and assemble the components

 To test the machine

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1.5 Scope
The scope of the project will be focused on cutting a variety of vegetables. The project will also
focus on how to cut according to the different sizes needed. Additionally, the project focuses on
small scale business persons who spend a lot of time in kitchens to cut vegetables.

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1.6 Methods
The data that was collected was mainly secondary. It was mainly collected from the internet,
books and other projects that were done by prior researches.

1.7 Motivation
The motivation of this project is mainly based on easing the life of people who usually cut
vegetables in different kitchens. It is a very tedious and time consuming to cut vegetables
especially if they are to cutter a lot of people. The current vegetable cutters in the markets are
very expensive. Therefore, this project will strive to make an affordable machine for use on the
local market.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This chapter reviews literature what has been done relating to the process of cutting vegetables,
with a view of developing a model that will be used for both local and international operations.

2.1 Types of Vegetable Cutters.

The kitchen is considered the most dangerous room in the house for some reason, because of
knives. It’s the cuts that most often lead to the Knife accidents at home, it has been a common
practice to use hands or hand held tools to cut vegetables and fruits. Such techniques and devices
are not only slow but tedious and dangerous. They also require a lot of time and efforts for the
work to be done when preparing fruits and vegetables for consumption. (Yonan, 2013).

Due to the disadvantages that hand tools possess, several developments came on board with
respect to cutting mechanisms which can be utilized in kitchen and these are hand held devices.
With time, various inventions have been made to make safe the process of cutting vegetables and
fruit such as the designs in figure 1.

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 Figure 1: Handheld device. source (Anon., 2018)

The other handheld devices that are available in the market can be shown below

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Figure 2: Handheld devices. Source (Anon., 2018)

However, these devices wastes a lot of time in cutting and requires human efforts for the
vegetables to be cut. Several machines were developed to make work easy and effective.

There are many machines that have been developed; an example of these machines is figure 3.

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Figure 3: semi-automatic vegetable cutter (NADU, 2018)

The machine in figure 3 has the following specifications:

It is semi-automatic, the cutting capacity is customized and cutting methods used are slice, dice,
mince and shred. The maximum cutting thickness and maximum cutting length are customized.
(NADU, 2018)

Though the machine is nice and well designed, it is very expensive and for it to be used well it
can be used for commercial purposes. It also requires some human efforts which become
tiresome to the people operating the machine.

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 Figure 4: vegetable cutter machine

The machine in figure 4 is also a vegetable cutter and can cut a variety of vegetable .The only
disadvantage it has it that it is very expensive

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2.2 Types of Vegetables.

Figure 5: Different types of vegetables

Categories in which vegetables are classified are: dark green, deep orange and yellow, dry beans
and legumes, starchy and other veggies as explained below and can be seen in figure 5

Dark greens; Dark green veggies include broccoli, spinach, kale, collard greens, turnip greens,
mustard greens, bokchoy and certain dark lettuces, such as romaine. (Morgan, 2017)

Deep orange and yellow veggies; these include sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin and various
types of squash, including acorn and butternut.

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Dry beans and peas; Legumes -- which include black, kidney, pinto, navy and garbanzo beans,
among others -- are known for being a good source of protein and fibre. A few pea varieties are
in this vegetable category as well, such as split peas and black-eyed peas.

Starchy veggies; Starchy veggies include green peas, corn and lima beans. Lima beans are
sometimes called butter beans in certain regions. This category also features perhaps one of the
most popular vegetables of all: the potato. Starchy foods fall into the complex carbohydrates
category.

Other vegetables; Starchy veggies include green peas, corn and lima beans. Lima beans are
sometimes called butter beans in certain regions. This category also features perhaps one of the
most popular vegetables of all: the potato. Starchy foods fall into the complex carbohydrates
category.

2.3 Methods of Cutting Vegetables.

There are different methods that are used to cut vegetables and these are parallel, rolled, mincing,
slicing, large dice, match stick, shreading, and brunoises.

Brunoise (fine dice)

Figure 6: Vegetable dice

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Figure 6 shows Brunoise cutting techniques were fruits or vegetables are cut into a fine dice.
Common items cut in this way are onions, carrots and turnips. When used as a garnish, the cut
should be consistent in size and shape, to ultimately help create a visual effect. (Abdul, 2011)

Chiffonade (Shreading)

Figure 7: Chiffonade

Chiffonade cutting technique is used on herbs or leafy vegetables. Examples for vegetables you
can chiffonade are lettuce, spinach or cabbage and for herbs basil, mint or kaffir lime. They are
done by stacking the leaves on top of each other, rolling them tightly to form a tube, and then
cutting across the rolled leaves with a sharp knife to produce fine ribbons, as it can be seen in
figure 7. (Abdul, 2011)

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Julienne (Match sticks)

Figure 8: Match stick

Figure 8 shows Julienne cutting technique where food is cut into long ‘matchstick’ like strips.
This style of cut is commonly used as a garnish or on fries. Solid and/or round vegetables like
carrots are cut with a sharp knife. (Abdul, 2011)

Macedoine (Large Dice)

Figure 9: Large dice

Macedoine is a cutting technique in which a fruit or vegetable is cut into cubes as shown in
figure 9. If the food being cut is round, one side is cut to make it steady on the cutting board.
(Abdul, 2011)

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Slicing

Figure 10: Slicing

Slicing is cutting of food into thin; relatively broad slices, which is shown in figure 10.it is
usually the first technique that we all learn when we first use a knife. Sliced meats, vegetables
and fruit are used in many dishes, from sandwiches through to roast meats. (Abdul, 2011)

Mincing

Figure 11: Minced vegetables

Start by cutting the ingredient into thin strips, and then dice the strips as shown in figure11. Hold
the knife handle in one hand and with the other, hold down the tip of the blunt edge of the blade.
(Abdul, 2011)

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Rolling-cutting

Figure 12: Rolled cuts

This technique is used for long vegetables, like carrots or zucchini. It makes attractive chunks
and exposes more of the surface area of the vegetable. Hold the blade perpendicular to the board
and cut straight down on the diagonal as it can be seen in figure 12. (Abdul, 2011)

Parallel cutting

Figure 13: Parallel cutting

Parallel cutting method shown in figure 13 above is used to cut thin slices of meat or vegetables.
Lay the food close to the edge of the board with the fingers of your free hand flat on top of
it. Move it slowly and carefully back and forth to slice the food, paying close attention to avoid
cutting your fingers. (Abdul, 2011)

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 RELAY MICROCONTROLLER CONVERYOR MOTOR

BLADE MOTOR
POWER SUPPLY

Figure 14: Block diagram of interfaces

2.4 Motors selections

Figure 15: DC motor (Anon., 2018)

With reference to figure 15, the equations of the motor can be driven as shown below

𝑣𝑠 (𝑡) − 𝑖 (𝑡)𝑅 − 𝑣𝑏 (𝑡) = 0 ………………………………………………………….…… (2.1)

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𝑣𝑠 (𝑡) = 𝑖(𝑡)𝑅 + 𝐾𝑣 𝜔(𝑡)…………………………………………………………………… (2.2)

Where

𝑣𝑏 (𝑡) = 𝐾𝑣 𝜔(𝑡) Is the motor’s back–electromotive force and it can be neglected

In the frequency domain the equation can be

𝑉𝑠 (𝑆) = 𝐼(𝑡)𝑅 + 𝐾𝑣 Ѡ(𝑆)………………………………………………… (2.3)

𝜏𝑚 = 𝐾𝑡 𝑖………………………………………………………………… (2.4)

Where:
The proportionality constant 𝐾𝑡 is called the torque constant, one of the key parameters
describing the characteristics of a DC motor.
The torque constant is determined by the strength of the magnetic field, the number of turns of
the windings, the effective area of the air gap, the radius of the rotor, and other parameters
associated with materials properties.

To derive other equations of the motor

Let E be the voltage applied to the idealized transducer. The electric power is then given by E.i ,
which must be equivalent to the mechanical power:

𝑷𝒊𝒏 = 𝑬. 𝒊 = 𝝉𝒎 . 𝝎𝒎 …………………………………………..……………….. (2.5)

Where:
𝜔𝑚 is the angular velocity of the motor rotor.

Substituting eq.(2.4) into eq.(2.5) and dividing both sides by I yield the second fundamental
relationship of a DC motor

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𝐸 = 𝐾𝑡 𝜔𝑚 ……………………………………………………..……………………. (2.6)

The unit of the torque constant is Nm/A in the metric system, whereas the one of the back emf

Constant is V/rad/s based on.

The actual DC motor is not a loss-less transducer, having resistance at the rotor windings and the
commutation mechanism.
Furthermore, windings may exhibit some inductance, which stores energy.
Figure above shows the schematic of the electric circuit, including the windings resistance R and
inductance L. From the figure,
𝒅𝒊
𝒖 = 𝑹. 𝒊 + 𝑳 𝒅𝒕 + 𝑬…………………………………………………………………. (2.7)

Where:
u is the voltage applied to the armature of the motor

the torque speed characteristic equation can be shown from the equation below

𝑲𝒕 𝑲𝟐𝒕
𝝉𝒎 = 𝒖 − 𝝎𝒎 ……………………………………………………...………..(2.8)
𝑹 𝑹

Note that the motor torque increases in proportion to the applied voltage, but the net torque
reduces as the angular velocity increases.
The power dissipated in the DC motor is given by

𝑅
𝑃𝑑𝑖𝑠 = 𝑅. 𝑖 2 = 2
𝜏𝑚 ……………………………………………………………. (2.9)
𝐾𝑡2

From eq. (2.4). Taking the square root of both sides yields

𝜏
√𝑃𝑑𝑖𝑠 = 𝐾𝑚 ……………………………………………………………………….. (2.10)
𝑚

𝐾𝑡
𝐾𝑚 =
√𝑅

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Where:
The parameter 𝐾𝑚 is called the motor constant. The motor constant represents how effectively
electric power is converted to torque
Taking into account the internal power dissipation, the net output power of the DC motor is
given by

𝐾𝑡 2
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝜏𝑚 . 𝜔𝑚 = ( 𝑢- 𝐾𝑚 𝜔𝑚 ) 𝜔𝑚 ………………………………………….. (2.11)
𝑅

2.4.1 Motor sizing calcutions

These calculations will help in selection the right size of the motor for a desired application.

Making the assumptions that all calculations are done under ideal conditions:

Let M = be the mass of the gate

F = the force

T = the torque

v= the velocity

D= the diameter of the pinion

r=radius of the pinion

ω = angular velocity

g = acceleration due to gravity

μ = coefficient of friction

Force, F = μMg………………………………………………………………. (2.12)

Toque, T = F.r………………………………………………………………... (2.13)

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 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
Velocity, v = ………………………………………………….……..(2.14)
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒

Equation (3) can also be found by:

v = ω.r……………………………………………………………………………. (2.15)

2𝜋
Let N be the speed measured in revolutions per minute (rpm) and ω = 𝑁 hence, equation (4)
60

becomes:

2𝜋𝑟 𝜋𝐷
v= 𝑁= 𝑁…………………………………………………………………..(2.16)
60 60

2𝜋
Power, P = T. ω = T 60 𝑁………………………………………………………….(2.17)

The following example demonstrates how to select the right size of the motor:

Coefficient of friction between rollers and bearing is μ=0.03 and between engineered plastic
pulley and the conveyor belt is0.08

The following are the calculations between pulley and the conveyor

Approximating the mass of one bunch of the vegetable to be Mass 250-500grams (M = 250g for
safer operation)
Acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.81 m/s2
Force, F = μ×M× g

F= 0.08 × 0.25 ×9.81 F = 0.1962 N -------------------------------------------- (2.18)

Torque, T = F × x

Where, x is distance between the first roller and the second

So, x = D/2 = 0.001(Diameter of pulley = 0.002 mm)

Now, T = 0.1962× 0.001

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T = 0.0002 Nm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (2.19)

Approximating our time, one second

Velocity, V = Distance/time

Time, t =1 sec

Distance, D = 0.48 m

V = 0.48/1 = 0.48 m/s

To calculate the speed N measured in rpm, we equate equation (2.4) and (2.6) and substitute the
known values:

V = πDN/60

0.48 = (π × 0.002×N)/60

N = 4583rpm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (2.20)

Speed per revolution, N = 4583rpm

Power required,

P = 2πNT/60 = (2 × π × 4583 × 0.0002) / 60

P = 0.0960 W --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (2.21)

We know that, 1HP = 746 W

So, P =0.0960 /746 P = 0.0001 HP

So, we select the standard motor of power P = 0.0001HP.

The following are the calculations between roller and the bearing whose coefficient of friction is
0.03

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Approximating the mass of one bunch of the vegetable to be Mass 250-500grams (M = 250g for
safer operation)
Acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.81 m/s2
Force, F = μ×M× g

F= 0.03 × 0.25 ×9.81

F = 0.0736 N -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (2.22)

Torque, T = F × x

Where, x is distance between the first roller and the second

So, x = D/2 = 0.0005(Diameter of pulley = 0.001 mm)

Now, T = 0.0736× 0.0005

T = 0.0000368 Nm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (2.23)

Approximating our time, one second

Velocity, V = Distance/time

Time, t =1 sec

Distance, D = 0.24m

V = 0.24/1 = 0.24 m/s

To calculate the speed N measured in rpm, we equate equation (2.4) and (2.6) and substitute the
known values:

V = πDN/60

0.24 = (π × 0.001×N)/60

N = 4583rpm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (2.24)

Speed per revolution, N = 4583rpm

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Power required,

P = 2πNT/60 = (2 × π × 4583 × 0.0000368) / 60

P = 0.018 W ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (2.25)

We know that, 1HP = 746 W

So, P =0.018 /746 P = 0.000024 HP

So, we select the standard motor of power P = 0.000024HP.

Hence the selection of the motor which is shown below

Figure 16: High torque motor source (Anon., 2018)

The current required for the motors to run

𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼

0.0960 = 12 ∗ 𝐼

0.008𝐴

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 CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter highlights the numerous methods that were used to accomplish the objectives of the
project. Various methods that were used in the course of this project range from research to
fabrication of the prototype of a vegetable cutter.

3.1 Design Concept

The concept of the prototype was developed using engineering drawing instruments and software
such as SolidWorks 2015.The concept came as a result of the modification of the human
powered vegetable cutter, shown in figure 17

3.2 Mechanical components

3.2.0 Tools for mechanical design

To come up with the mechanical design the following tools were used
 Personal computer.
 Solid works software
 Engineering Drawing board
 Engineering drawing instruments

3.2.1 Mechanical design procedure

 Rough sketches were made, guided by the human powered vegetable cutter.
 Rough sketches were translated into paper engineering drawings.

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 Paper engineering drawings were used to make 2-dimensional and 3-dimentional drawings
on a computer

3.2.2 Determination of mechanical parts

In order for the automatic vegetable cutter to be successfully carry out its specified functions the
following basic parts were assembled as it can be seen from figure 17.
Note: all dimensions are in mm (millimetres)

Figure 17: Isometric view

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 Figure 18: Isometric drawing

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 Figure 19: Exploded view

3.2.1 Final mechanical view

Figure 20 and figure 21 shows the fabricated mechanical view of the vegetable cutter

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 Figure 20: Vegetable cutter

Figure 21: vegetable cutter side view

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3.3 Electrical and Electronics Design
The following electrical and electronics components were assembled to come up with the electric
circuitry.

Microcontroller

A microcontroller is a compact integrated circuit designed to govern a specific operation in an

embedded system. A typical microcontroller includes a processor, memory and input/output
(I/O) peripherals on a single chip. (Rouse, 2017).

Arduino Uno Infiduino

Arduino is a single-board microcontroller to make using electronics in multidisciplinary projects

more accessible. The hardware consists of a simple open source hardware board designed around
an 8-bit Atmel AVR microcontroller, or a 32-bit Atmel ARM. (Halvorsen, 2012)

Arduino uno infiduino was used, with the arduino board, programs can be written and, using
interface circuits, switches and other sensors can be read. Motors, lights and other electrical
devices can be controlled without difficulty. The arduino in this project was used to supply 5V to
the relay. Figure 22 show the arduino Uno board

Figure 22: Arduino uno infiduino source (Kurniawan, 2015)

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POWER SUPPLY

A 12V, 21A power supply was used to power the entire sytem.Figure 23 shows the power supply

Figure 23: Power supply

TABLE 1.0
Specification Particulars

Microcontroller Atmel atmega 328p8

Operating voltage 1.8 – 5.5 V

RAM S 2 Kb

Flash memory for storing programs 328p Kb

EEPROM for storing parameter 1 Kb

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Switch button

Two switch buttons were used to power two motors, that is the conveyor motor and the blade
motor. The switch buttons that were used can be seen from figure 24

Figure 24: Switch button

Resistors

Different resistors exist and in this project 1k resistors and 10k were used. The main function of
the resistor was to control the flow of current in the circuit to other components, an example of a
resistor is shown in figure 25.

Figure 25: Resistor

3 .4 Programming

In order to run dc motors for the automatic vegetable cutters, the flow chart and simulations in proteus
were used to come up with the code that was used to control the spend of the DC motors

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Flow chart

Figure 26: Flow chart

A flow chart shown in figure 26, is a diagrammatic representation that was helpful in writing the
program to run the motors

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3.4.1 Proteus simulation

Figure 27: Proteus simulation

Proteus simulations were done in order to verify the execution of the code as it can be seen in
figure 27.The code below was able to run the motors both in proteus and the actual circuit

Code in arduino software

int out1 = A0;

int out2 = A1;

void setup() {

pinMode(out1,OUTPUT);

pinMode(out2,OUTPUT);

void loop(){

analogWrite(out1, 110);

analogWrite(out1, 110);

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 Figure 28: Electrical /Electronic circuit

The final electric/electronic circuit can be seen from figure 28

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 CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

4.0 Introduction
In this chapter, data collected from various tests and simulations was analysed and results were
discussed. The test results were obtained from the simulations that were carried using Software
and design concept that was fabricated.

4.1 Analysis

4.1.0 Power
12V-36V, 3500-9000RPM, DC motor

Maximum allowable power for safe operation.

𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼 (𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠) ………………………………………………………………………(4.1)

𝑃 = (12) ∗ (5)

𝑃 = 60𝑊

The voltage output for the power supply is between 10V-15v

Maximum power supply power output calculated

𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼

𝑃 = 15 ∗ 5

𝑃 = 75𝑊

DC power consumption at10V and 5A

𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼

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 𝑃 = 10 ∗ 5

𝑃 = 50𝑊

If our supply voltage is 11V the power output becomes

𝑃 = 11 ∗ 5

𝑃 = 55𝑊

At 12V the power output is

𝑃 = 12 ∗ 5

𝑃 = 60𝑊

4.1.1 Torque
Angular velocity the maximum is 9000rpm=942.5rad/s

The torque from the motor at the maximum power and constant speed give

𝑃 = 𝑇 ∗ 𝜔……………………………………………………………………… (4.2)

50 = 𝑇 ∗ 946.5

𝑇 = 0.052𝑁𝑚

The torque from the motor at 55W and constant speed of 942.5rad/s

55 = 𝑇 ∗ 946.5

𝑇 = 0.058𝑁𝑚

The torque from the motor at 60W and constant speed of 942.5rad/s

60 = 𝑇 ∗ 946.5

𝑇 = 0.063𝑁𝑚

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Taking the minimum voltage which is 10V, which gave us the power of 50W and torque of
0.052Nm.keeping the torque constant

The torque of 0.052Nm and power 55W

55 = 0.052 ∗ 𝜔𝑚

𝜔𝑚 = 1057.69𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠

The angular speed from the motor at 60W and constant speed of 0.052Nm

60 = 0.052 ∗ 𝜔𝑚

𝜔𝑚 = 1153.8𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠

From the calculations we can clearly see that when we increase the speed the torque reduces and
when we reduce he speed the torque increases and this can be seen in the matlab Simulink
simulation graphs in figure 29 and figure 30

By using the torque speed relationship the speed of the blade and the knife was controlled.

The other way was to control the speed by using pulse width modulation which was
implemented by the code .The speed was controlled by the signal according to the signal from
the arduino.

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4.1.2 Matlab simulations

Figure 29; Matlab simulation simulink

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 Input voltage

Torque

Angular speed

Figure 30: Simulink graphs

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 CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Conclusion
The aim of this project was to design and fabricate an automated vegetable cutter .it was
intended to be fabricated from locally available material which was done. The designed
prototype was cost effective in terms of the design and manufacturing cost.

5.1 Challenges

Tightening the conveyor belt and transmission belt was a challenge as this was affecting the
rotation of the rollers. This was due to lack of equipment to help in the joining of the belt.

Unable to use a motor drive, due to the high current which was needed to drive the loads, the
motor driver L293D failed to work as the current required by the load is more than what it can
handle.

Speed control off the conveyor. Pulse width modulation couldn’t work due to the load associated
to the conveyor belt.

5.2 Recommendations

For further improvement and better of the vegetable cutter machine, it is recommended that the
blade sizes be changed as it will help to cut different shapes of the vegetables required.

An automatic adjuster can be added as this will help in the adjustments without human efforts.

A suitable motor speed control circuit can be added as this will be able to help control the speed
of the motor.

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APPENDIX B- GANTT CHART

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TABLE 2: BUDGET

ITEM NAME NUMBER OF ITEM COST PER UNIT TOTAL COST

ARDUINO UNO 1 K400 K400
KIT
MOTORS 2 K130 K260
SWITCH BUTTON 1 K5 K5
TRANSFORMER 1 K30 K30
(STEPDOWN)
CONVERYOR 1 K100 K100
BELT
PULLEYS 3 K2 K6
CAPACITORS 2 K10 K20
RESISTORS(1KΩ) 2 K5 K10
TRANSPORT - - K300
STEEL - K300 K300
THESIS - - K400
BOLTS AND NUTS - K10 K10
L293 MOTOR 1 K60 K60
DRIVER
PCB BOARD 1 K15 K15
STAINLESS STEEL 1 K15 K15
TOTAL COST - - K1931

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APPENDIX B-DETAILED DRAWINGS

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REFERENCES

Abdul, M., 2011. TYPE OF VEGETABLE CUTTING.

Anon., 2018. [Online]

Available at: http://jp.mathworks.com/help
[Accessed 7 july 2018].

Anon., 2018. AMAZON. [Online]

Available at: https://www.amazon.com
[Accessed 8 JULY 2018].

Jill, C., 2017. NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF DRIED VEGETABLE POWDER.

Kurniawan, A., 2015. Arduino Uno.

Morgan, R., 2017. LIST OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF VEGETABLES.

NADU, T., 2018. GANAPATHY KITCHEN EQUIPMENTS. [Online]

Available at: http://m.ganapathykitchenequipments.com/preparation-equipment.html
[Accessed 8 JULY 2018].

Yonan, J., 2013. Knife injuries and other kitchen mishaps afflict both top chefs and everyday cooks.

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