Autonomous Coconut De-shelling Machine

This project was conducted in collaboration with Kapar coconut. The goal for this project was to reduce risk of injuries of workers when operating a coconut-deshelling machine. The process of de-shelling a coconut is dangerous as it requires the worker's hands to be holding the coconut while moving gears and sharp wedges are used to crack the coconut shell open. This has caused injuries to occur as the coconut is caught by the gear, pulling the coconut at a random direction. 

Several prototypes were brainstormed to tackle this engineering challenge. One of which was using a static wedge design. This design intends for the coconut to sit in the middle of the machine while two wedge will crack the coconut from the bottom while one wedge will crack the coconut from the top. This design was ultimately ruled out as it was difficult to ensure the coconut can fit into the machine. 

- Distancing the hand of the worker away from the moving blades needed to crush the coconut shell.

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