Factors Affecting the Performance of an Apple and Kiwi-Fruit Electronic Grading System

An electronically automated system for grading fruits was designed and its performance was evaluated. The machine comprised of two electronic and mechanical sections; the fruit passed through them and was graded by weight using a 30 N load cell and a supported control. Then The effect of four independent variables on machine performance was investigated. The independent variables in the first test were fruit type (two types), input slope (30°, 40°, 50°), and sensing time (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 sec). In the second test, the independent factors were fruit shape (apple, kiwi,-fruit) and output slope (10°, 30°, 50°). Three main factors were statistically significant for machine performance (fruits/sec). It was found that the mostimportant factor was the timing of the load cell. Optimum correction of the timers by calculating the timing of fruit passing the sections and gates increased the performance of the machine. Results showed that maximum capacity was achieved for kiwi fruit with an input slope of 50° and 1 sec of time for the load cell, totaling 872.4 fruits/hr.