CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Malaysia is blessed with good tropical climate. Besides fruits, many crops can be grown here like rubber, oil palm, paddy and cocoa. One of the most recent
newcomers in the Malaysian fruit industry is dragon fruits
Hylocereus polyrhizus
. After many trials and errors, dragon cultivation has made its way in the Malaysian
fruit industry. The local name for dragon fruit is „buah naga‟ or „buah mata naga‟. The dragon fruit growing areas are in the states of Johor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan,
Pahang, Pulau Pinang and Sabah
[4]
. The fruit comes in three types, all with leathery, slightly leafy skin which is white flesh with pink skin
Hylocereus undatus
, red flesh with pink skin
Hylocereus polyrhizus
and white flesh with yellow skin
Selenicereus megalanthus
[5]
.
But only two types of variety can be grow in Malaysia which is the red and white flesh. Figure below show the two variety types
of dragon fruit:
Figure 1.1:
Hylocereus undatus
Figure 1.2:
Hylocereus polyrhizus
Dragon fruits have different weights and sizes. Table 1.1 shows the different weight and grade of the dragon fruit:
Table 1.1: Difference types of dragon fruit weights and sizes.
GRADE WEIGHT
AA 601gm and above
A 451gm – 450gm
B 356gm – 450gm
C 350gm – 250gm
D 250gm and below
For this project its combines the knowledge of electrical and engineering
drawing in designing the
Portable Dragon Fruit Grade Sorter
. This project is to
design an automatic machine that used to sort the dragon fruits according to their standards, grade and size. Sorting and grading process were done based on various
criteria such as weight, shape and size. This project is divided into three stages. The first stage is to propose the best design for the Portable Dragon Fruit Grade Sorter
Machine in low cost but still effective. For the second stage, to design and assemble the machine parts into one system using the SolidWorks software. For the last stage,
to design and develop an adaptor to supply the system from 240Vac to the desired input value for the actuator, motor and sensors.
For the power supply design, a linear high quality power supply with a continuously variable stabilized output adjustable at any value between 0 and
30VDC is build. The circuit also incorporates an electronic output current limiter that effectively controls the output current from a few miliamperes 2mA to the
maximum output of three amperes that the circuit can deliver.
[9]
1.2 Problem Statement
Kategori