Design and fabrication of Pomegranate peeler and Deseeder

Pomegranate's medicinal uses and due to aromatic flavour as well as consumer awareness towards its innumerable benefits is widely consumed all around the world. The main problem that household consumers face is the tiresome process of peeling and deseeding the pomegranate. Most of the consumers do n

Project Title

Design and fabrication of Pomegranate peeler and Deseeder

Project Area of Specialization

Robotics

Project Summary

Pomegranate's medicinal uses and due to aromatic flavour as well as consumer awareness towards its innumerable benefits is widely consumed all around the world. The main problem that household consumers face is the tiresome process of peeling and deseeding the pomegranate. Most of the consumers do not know how to peel the fruit and end up squashing the seeds of the pomegranate. This project aims to solve this problem by introducing a novel and unique design of a small machine for peeling and deseeding the fruit, for use by households or small-scale industries

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L) cultivation today is a highly lucrative and profitable agriculture business in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, Pomegranates are widely produced and farmed. According to a statistical report of 2012, pomegranate fruit is being farmed on an area of approximately 12934 (HECTARES), producing 50000 tons per year. From all over the country, pomegranate fruit is widely produced in Baluchistan due to its cold environment and land area, producing 35031 tons of fruit. while Punjab being the second-largest producer of pomegranate fruit with around 12,000 tons of production After that KPK(Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) produces around 1668 tons.

Pomegranates are also exported overseas in an enormous quantity because of a decrease in customer consumption in-country and lack of gadget for consuming fruit without tiresome. As the manual process of deseeding the fruit is time-consuming and tiresome. Because of this tedious activity of manually deseeding, most individuals avoid consuming it, which divests them from this abundant source of minerals. An automatic food-processing home appliance may improve the situation.

We will design and fabricate an operational prototype of such a capable device that can carefully peel and deseed the pomegranates in less time. Our design will be based on high-quality sensors that will identify the shape, size, and efficient angle for the implementation of force to the pomegranate. After that, the microcontroller, driven motors attached with blades will peel off the skin of the fruit. Next, it will round the fruit downward. A bucket (reusable container) will be present under the fruit. The seeds fall out of the fruit. This robust process occurs within seconds. In the end, the residue of peel/skin is collected in a separate bucket.

With this modern machine, we can automate peeling and deseeding efficiently and reliably in less than a minute. It will be designed in such a way that it consumes minimum power and can be operated safely.

Our project aims to follow four Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Those are No Poverty: good health and well-being; decent work & economic growth; industry, Innovation & Infrastructure. From this innovative idea, we can increase local business and start the “Made in Pakistan” products.

Project Objectives

The following are the technical objectives of the project:

1. To design a machine that can peel and deseed pomegranates in a very short time-frame.
2. To model a prototype for household or small-industry use.
3. To file and register a patent for the device. And to commercialize the product as "Made in Pakistan". 

Project Implementation Method

To design a prototype of a home appliance for the pomegranate to peel and deseed.

The basic working idea is that we will place the pomegranate in its housing in the prototype. Then a blade will cut the cape/crown of fruit. Then a sensor will detect the size and location of the compartments of the seed in the fruit. An ultrasonic sensor will measure the depth of the skin. Then a blade will precisely cut fruit into four equal parts. After that, the parts of the fruit will be stretched and extended. Then the fruit will be softly hammered so that seeds drop down from it. Then a vacuum sucker will suck the seeds still bound to the white membrane. The seeds will be collected in a container under the fruit. The residue of the fruit will be removed by opening the lid.

Steps to be followed:

• Basic 3D Prototype Design in Autodesk Fusion 360 CAD software
• To improve the design by applying the customer-survey and testing method.
• To make a hardware Prototype.
• To improve the hardware prototype design by applying the reduction-of-trajectory method.
• To complete the documentation work for patent
• To get patent registered

Benefits of the Project

This project will provide the following benefits:

• It will help individuals to eat pomegranate easily and will increase the export of pomegranate consequently.
• It will reduce the wastage of fruit.
• The machine has less noise as compared to other home appliances.
• Less Human Effort.
• A profitable product for the business.
• Ownership of the patent of the design/product.
• A business model for a start-up

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

At the end of our project, we expect.

• A finalized hardware prototype that is capable of peeling and deseeding a pomegranate in under two minutes.
• Registered patent for the product. 

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Food

Other Industries

IT , Agriculture , Others , Health

Core Technology

Robotics

Other Technologies

3D/4D Printing, Shared Economy, Others

Sustainable Development Goals

No Poverty, Good Health and Well-Being for People, Quality Education, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Responsible Consumption and Production, Partnerships to achieve the Goal

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com