Proposed Lifting Model for Gripper Date Palm Service Machines

Abstract

Many of the cultural operations of date palm tree require the man to climb the tree and work at a considerable height above the ground. This is a dangerous and slow operation further compounded by a severe labor shortage. The objective of this study is to propose an innovative gripper service machine in order to climb the tree and do special operations at the top. Gripper date palm service machine is a machine which connects to the tree trunk and uses it as support. It causes to reduce size and weight of this machine in order to utilize in date palm gardens which has no special planting pattern and palm is cultivated with other trees. This work demonstrates how a gripper climber machine can be applied to service palm trees with the aim of reducing the size, weight and cost. The proposed machine was designed in Solidworks computer software. Finally the maximum weight which the tree can suffer was estimated. According to the results of maximum load which the tree can suffer and safety of the occupant, it is recommended to use this machine as a remote control machine and without occupant.