5th International & 26th All India Manufacturing Technology, Design and Research Conference (AIMTDR 2014) December

12th–14th, 2014, IIT

Guwahati, Assam, India

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATED VEGETABLE CUTTING

MACHINE

Tony Thomas.A1*, MuthuKrishnan.A 2, Sre Nandha Guhan.K.S 3

1*
Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Tamilnadu,638
052,dec84tony@gmail.com

2
Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Tamilnadu,638
052,muthukrishnanas@gmail.com

3
Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Tamilnadu,638
052, guhansadhasivam@gmail.com

Abstract
Automation was the rage of the engineering world. The investigation on the existing vegetable cutting machine
reviews the following drawbacks such as high investment cost, the contamination, additional manpower and time
consumption caused by manual processing. The setup involves a hopper arrangement and the pressure block is
actuated by a pneumatic cylinder, and has a reciprocatory motion along the vertical length of casing, while the
cutting grid remains fixed. The air supply to the cylinder is controlled by a solenoid actuated DCV, which is
controlled by a microcontroller. The entry of vegetable into the grid apparatus is controlled using a pneumatic
cylinder along with a single bar mechanism. The vegetables are feeded via inclined tube. A tray is placed at the
bottom of the apparatus to collect the vegetable pieces after processing. Variable pressure setting for cutting
different vegetables is carried out by the microcontroller. The intricacy involved with such a system is the type of
vegetables it can process. The system is advantageous in the fact that existing automation is high in cost, and the
power consumption is high. The proposed work is benefitted by pneumatic power, which is abundant.
Keywords: Automation, Relays, Microcontroller, DCV

1. Introduction constraint, contamination, etc. make it pretty difficult

In the late 90’s, automation was the rage of the
engineering world. The best of the minds, rallied day
and night to bring forth improvements of significant
magnitude, something which could make an impact in
the day-to-day life. Today, its’ an plethora of fields
which have embraced with automation, from
manufacturing to food processing, biomedical and
pharmaceutical industries. In such a scenario, domestic
applications have also been developed with the common
man in mind. Of late, processes which were manual
before are slowly being converted to semi-automated
and automated nature. Manual cutting of vegetables is
still prevalent, in hostels of educational institutions,
marriage catering services and even in restaurants,
which can cater to a whole set of varying customer
tastes and preferences. The amount of vegetables to be
cut for the dishes always remains higher than actually
what’s consumed. The associated difficulties like time
for any person handling the job. Therein, arose a need to
automate the process of vegetable cutting, and here we
are with a proposal which can aid in easing the load off
the people associated with it.
1.1. Existing automated vegetable cutter
and its demerits
The automatic vegetable cutter is a Chinese
manufactured one, currently available in the market.
The cutter operates on the concept of ‘rotating grid’,
wherein, the cutting grid is rotating inside a casing,
powered by an ac motor. The vegetables are fed via the
hopper arrangement, at the top. The cutting grid rotates
at a high speed which cuts the vegetables as they pass
through them. The cutting grids are varied according to
the need of the customer. The shapes of the cut
vegetable vary with the change in cutting grids.

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DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATED VEGETABLE CUTTING MACHINE
The above mentioned cutter has some demerits with
regards to its operation. First of all, the vegetable
feeding is not automatic, and a person has to devote his
time to feed the vegetable one by one, till the required
quantity is cut. Then, the grids are powered by a motor,
which has high power consumption. Considering the
fluctuating power supply that, the process has to be
electrically powered continuously for operation, is a
disadvantage in itself. Most important of all, is the
initial investment on the cutter. The cutter is
approximately priced at a range of $ 3500, inclusive of
shipping cost and taxes. It is a high investment, for
those who run a mid-level catering business. Therefore,
considering all these demerits, the idea for a pneumatics
powered cutter is conceived.
Some of the key problems, which were identified
for the initiation of this work, are high cost of the
existing automated system, Power fluctuations,
additional labour, time consumption in manual cutting
and chances of contamination in manual cutting.
1.2 Objectives
The primary objectives, upon which, the present
work is based are providing an alternative to the existing
automated system mainly, targeting the initial
investment factor, and to power a domestic product
using pneumatics, thereby eliminating the associated
difficulties of manual vegetable cutting.
1.3 Literature review
This work has been inspired by several patents filed on
the same patent, in that regard belonging to Romeo et al
(pub no: US2009/0193953 A1), has portrayed a basic
setup, which has been the base upon which we have
built upon. The patent helped in bringing about the idea
of using a cutting grid for cutting the vegetable.
The second patent, (intl patent no: W0 2008/011671
A1), once again by Romeo et al, has provided more
clarity on the actuation mechanism used for a simple
cutter with a box frame, along with a stack structure at
the bottom.
The patent belonging to Javier Hidalgo Garcia, Aitor
Aguirrezabalaga Zubizarreta, and Aitor Gogorza
Segurota (patent no: 20120125172), has laid emphasis
on various cutting grids for the cutting operation. This
patent has served as the reference for our grid design.
The cylinder specifications are taken from the
product manual of Janatics pneumatic Ltd. The force
calculations for the double acting cylinder, is given by
the equation 2.1, adopted from Fluid power with
applications (6th edition) by Antonio Esposito. Stainless
steel material properties were referred for the material
selection from Strength of Materials (Mechanics of
Solids) by Er.R.K.Rajput, and the micro-controller
specifications were taken from The 8051 Micro
controller and Embedded Systems (2nd edition) by
Muhammad Ali Mazidi.
2. System model and Design Calculation
The double acting cylinders are used to perform the
critical roles of regulating vegetable entry and
performing the cutting. The requirements of the two
processes are different, and so are the specifications of
the cylinders. For the cutting process, the following
calculations were made. Since the force required for
cutting process can’t be determined practically, a simple
theoretical, force calculation was done and the cylinder
was selected using working pressure as the major
consideration. During trial and error experimentation,
the minimum pressure required for the cutting process
was found to be 5 bar. The vegetable used for the
calculation, was a potato.
The assumed constants:
• Working pressure P = 5 bar = 5×105 N/m2.
• Cylinder diameter d1 = 100 mm = 0.1 m.
• Piston rod diameter d2 = 20 mm = 0.02 m.
Therefore, the force generated by the double acting
cylinder [1],
F = P×A, (2.1)
2 2
= P× π (d1 – d2 ) / 4
= 5×105×π (0.12 – 0.022) / 4
= 3769 N.
Table 1 Dimension – Mechanical Setup
Parts Dimensions
Hopper block 150×150 mm2
Hopper tube length 500 mm
Cutting case 100×100 mm2
Cutting grid 100×100 mm2
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5th International & 26th All India Manufacturing Technology, Design and Research Conference (AIMTDR 2014) December 12th–14th, 2014, IIT
Guwahati, Assam, India
Figure 1 Part Drawings of the setup using Pro/E
Hopper is the regulator for the entry of vegetables
into the cutting section. It has a square case, which acts
as a vegetable holder. A sliding bar mechanism is used
along with the hopper to ensure the regulated entry of
the vegetable. It is a single bar, with one end attached to
the piston rod plate of a pneumatic cylinder and the
other end connected to a 45˚ angled plate. It is shown in
the figure 1.The cutting grid is a square shaped one,
with inter meshed blades. The mesh, which almost
resembles a net as shown in the top view presented in
Figure 1, is made of stainless steel blades. The material
is specified with reference to its’ high young’s modulus
and suitability in food processing. The complete
assembly view of the project is shown in figure 2.
Figure 2 Assembly View
3. Working of the project
This work consists of two major parts; one is the
mechanical setup involving the hopper block, hopper
tube, square cutting case and grid along with the
supporting frame, while the other part is the electrical
circuit involving AC – DC converter, relays, micro
controller, LCD display, and keypad. The two parts,
work with synergy, to perform the vegetable cutting
process automatically. The actuation of the pressure
plate is linked to a pneumatic cylinder piston
reciprocatory motion. The entry of the vegetables inside
the cutting casing is regulated using another pneumatic
cylinder. The vegetables are placed above the cutting
grid. The cutting grid consists of stainless steel blades,
which are placed in a mesh. The pneumatic cylinder
delivers a piston stroke for a set pressure, controlled by
the micro-controller. The solenoid DCV varies the
supply for extraction and retraction of the pneumatic
cylinder. The pressure plate is used to force the
vegetables through the cutting grid. There are regular,
square shaped spaces between the cutting blades. The
vegetables are forced between the spaces, thereby
getting cut for the same shape. The whole process, is
automated by, regulation of the amount of vegetables
cut, timing of the extension, aided by the micro-
controller. The number of vegetables entering the
apparatus is regulated by a pneumatic cylinder, with a
single bar mechanism attached to the piston rod end.
The bar mechanism, has an angled plate, which acts like
a cup holding the vegetable at the hopper tube. When
vegetable is released from the angled plate, it reaches
the cutting casing, and the piston stroke performs the
cutting operation.
The mechanical setup and the electrical setup are
shown in figure 3 and figure 4. Both the mechanical
setup and the electrical setup, combine to work with
synergy to exhibit the automated working of the cutter.
The mechanical setup consists of a hopper case, a
hopper tube, a 45˚ angled plate, a square cutting case,
and a square cutting grid. While, the electrical setup
consists of an AC-DC converter, two relay circuits, a
micro controller circuit and a keypad.
Figure 3 Mechanical Setup
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DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATED VEGETABLE CUTTING MACHINE

Lcd8_Decimal3(0xc0,n);
if(!set_key)
{
while(!set_key);
Lcd8_Command(0x01);
key_function(); n=z;Delay(50000),Delay(50000);
}
while(n--)
Figure 4 Electrical setup {
4. Conclusion cut_process();
Thus, this work provides an alternative to the }
existing automatic vegetable cutter, in terms of
n=0;
automating the vegetable entry into the cutting
apparatus, eliminates power fluctuation and lesser initial Relay1=Relay2=1;
investment. Time consumption is less when compared
}
to manual cutting. This work provides the desired
output and the variety of the cuts is done by use of }
different cutting grid.
void cut_process()
Appendix A. Micro controller program {
Lcd8_Decimal3(0xc0,n);
#include<AT89x52.h>
Relay1=0,Relay2=1;
#include"smcl_lcd8.h"
sbit set_key=P1^0; Delay(50000),Delay(50000);Delay(50000),Delay(50000
sbit mov_key=P1^1; );

sbit inc_key=P1^2; Relay1=1,Relay2=0;

sbit dec_key=P1^3; Delay(50000),Delay(50000);Delay(50000),Delay(50000

);
sbit ent_key=P1^4;
}
sbit Relay1=P1^5;
void key_function()
sbit Relay2=P1^6;
{
void key_function();
Lcd8_Display(0x80,"N?",2);
void cut_process();
while(ent_key)
unsigned int n,z;
{
void main()
if(inc_key==0)
{
{Delay(5000);z++;}
Relay1=Relay2=1;
else if(dec_key==0&&z>0)
Lcd8_Init();
{Delay(5000);z--;}
while(1)
Lcd8_Decimal3(0xc5,z);
{
}

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5th International & 26th All India Manufacturing Technology, Design and Research Conference (AIMTDR 2014) December 12th–14th, 2014, IIT
Guwahati, Assam, India

Lcd8_Command(0x01);

References
Anthony Esposito (2011) ‘Fluid Power with
applications’, 6th Edition, Pearson Education Inc.
Er.R.K.Rajput (2009)‘Strength of Materials’,2ndEdition,
S. Chand & Company Limited.
Existing automatic vegetable cutter image and
specifications from http://www.alibaba.com/produtcgs/
automatic_vegetable_cutter.html viewed on 27 July
2012.
Javier Hidalgo Garcia, Aitor Aguirrezabalaga
Zubizarreta, and Aitor Gogorza Segurota (patent no:
20120125172). “Cutting grid patent”
Muhammad Ali Mazidi, Janice Gillispie Mazidi, and
Rolin D. McKinlay (2008) ‘The 8051 Micro Controller
and Embedded Systems’, 2nd Edition, Pearson
Education Inc.
Pneumatic cylinder and solenoid DCV from product
manual of Janatics ltd, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu.
Cutting grid types – image from www.jasenterprise.com
viewed on 23 August 2012.
Romeo et al (pub no: US2009/0193953 A1),”Design of
pneumatic powered cutter “
Romeo et al (intl patent no: W0 2008/011671 A1).
“Actuation mechanism”

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