Power requirements for olive mechanical harvesting using trunk shaker

Abstract

A mathematical analysis was conducted to predict the power requirements of the olive trunk shaker. The predicted required power of the olive trunk shaker is influenced by shaking displacement, fruit detachment force, fruit mass, stem length, damping ratio, unbalanced mass of the tree shaker, and exciting shaking frequency. The Olive trunk shaker was tested in the field at five attachment heights, 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800 mm, and six levels of olive trunk diameter: 78, 84, 101, 143, 158, and 186 mm. The results indicated that the theoretical shaking power was 12.8 kW while the actual required shaking power ranged from 7.1 to 17.8 kW, with an average of 12.6 kW due to variations in tree trunk diameters and different attachment heights. Multiple regression using the least squares method was employed to establish a statistical relation between the theoretical equation and the actual required power as a function of the clamp attachment height and trunk diameter. The regression coefficient of the predicted equation was 93.6% for attachment height values between 400 and 800 mm and tree trunk diameter values between 78 and 186 mm, with a mean absolute error of the prediction model was 0.5009 kW.