ARBA MINCH UNIVERSITY

RESEARCH DIRECTORATE OFFICE

P.O.BOX 21, ARBA MINCH; TEL.+251‐0468810453, FAX +251‐0468810276 e‐mail: researchoffice@amu.edu.et
Web site: http:/www.amu.edu.et

RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT GRANT APPLICATION FORM*

TO BE COMPLETED BY THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

A.TITLE OF PROJECT: Design and manufacturing of a totally automated rotary filling‐sealing machine
and the possibility for enhancing the Ethiopian agro processing industry
B. PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (PI) D. CO‐INVESTIGATOR (II)
Name: Atkilt Mulu Name: _______________________
Academic Rank: Lecturer Academic Rank: _______________________
Specialization: Specialization: _______________________
College: AMIT College: _______________________
Department: Mechanical Engineering Department: _______________________
Email: atkilt_mulu@yahoo.com Email: _______________________
Tel(cell): +251 (931) 48‐47‐77 Tel(cell): _______________________
Signature: _______________________ Signature: _______________________
Submission Date: _____________________ No of projects being co‐investigated: ______
No of projects being co‐investigated: 1 Please use back page for more co‐investigators
C. CO‐INVESTIGATOR (I) E. DURATION OF THE PROJECT
Name: Fitsum Bekele 7 Months
Academic Rank: Lecturer COMMENCEMENT TERMINATION
Specialization: Control Engineering Oct/2020 April/2020
College: AMIT F. AMOUNT OF GRANT REQUESTED IN BIRR:
Department: Electrical Engineering
168,770.00
Email: _______________________
Tel(cell): +251 938 491414
G. CATEGORY (highlight):
Signature: _______________________
Submission Date: _____________________ RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
No of projects being co‐investigated: ‐‐‐

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY

ASSIGNED REVIEWER (I) ASSIGNED REVIEWER (II)
Name: ________________________ Name: ________________________
Academic Rank: ________________________ Academic Rank: ________________________
Specialization: ________________________ Specialization: ________________________
College: ________________________ College: ________________________
Department: ___________________ Department: ___________________
Email: ______________________ Email: ______________________
Tel(cell): ______________________ Tel(cell): ______________________
Date Submitted:____________________ Date Submitted:____________________
Reviewer Signature:_________________ Reviewer Signature:_________________
Date Returned:_____________________ Date Returned:_____________________
Research Coordinator Sign:___________ Research Coordinator Sign:___________
Please see review criteria in the attached format Please see review criteria in the attached format
Recommended Recommended with Modification Not Recommended
1. TITLE

Design and manufacturing of a totally automated rotary filling‐sealing machine and the possibility for
enhancing the Ethiopian agro processing industry

2. ABSTRACT

The aim of this project is to develop an automated filling machine along with its design for sealing
and monitoring of production process. The project work includes designing a rotary indexing table
with six pneumatically operated concurrent processes for product feeding, filling, picking, detecting,
sealing and removing. Furthermore, implementing fault detection as well as production process
monitoring and control are parts of the objectives of the project. Automation components such as
drives, actuators, sensors, programmable logic controllers (PLC) and human machine interface (HMI)
will be used in the system. Real time test of the system to verify its design will also be carried out.

Key Words: programmable logic controllers, and human machine interface, automated filling and
sealing machine, pneumatic actuators

3. BACKGROUND & JUSTIFICATION

The availability of affordable automated filling and sealing machines could help transform small scale
agro‐process in Ethiopia. Packaging agro products is a solution for increasing their availability in time
and location. Proper orientation of packing containers and caps, filling with required quantity,
sealing, labeling the sealed containers and inspecting are the common processes that are
automated. Excepting companies with large turnover, such small scale machines are rarely available
for use in agro process in Ethiopia. Moreover, the cost of importing these automation machines is
quite high with respect to the income of small agri‐businesses in the country. Thus most of the
fragmented and widely spread agro resources are poorly utilized. In this project, a fully automated
machine design and development to address these problems will be carried out.

4. OBJECTIVES

The objective of this research is to design and manufacture a fully automated rotary filling and
sealing machine that fulfil the requirements of:
a) Modular machine design, which results in ease of assembling and disassembling, making it
simpler to transport and maintain.
b) An optimal design approach to balance power consumption and performance of the
machine that comply with the national efficacy standard.
c) Response of the motor for accurate positioning of the indexing table as well as the dynamics
of the pneumatic actuators for correct process result.
d) Human machine interface (HMI) making the machine easy to use for common operators.

5. MATERIALS AND METHODS/METHODOLOGY

The totally automated rotary filling and sealing machine is aimed for agro products such as milk or
yoghurt. The various components of the machine design and implementation schemes are
discussed below.

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 a. Main frame

The main frame has square bas of size 800 mm x 900 mm with a shaft mounted vertically. A geared
DC motor is mounted on horizontal plate & bolted to the plate. A pinion is mounted on motor shaft.
This part gives mechanical support for the rotating indexing table and houses the pneumatically
operated drives. The pneumatic drives enable six concurrent automation processes that are named
hereafter as cup feeder, cup filler, seal sucker, seal detector, cup sealer and cup remover. These
drives uses a 24V DC actuated solenoid values in conjugation with a custom made limit switch
sensors.

Cup feeder: This drive uses a feed slide and a stop lever for dropping a single cup in successive
stages. When the feed slide has advanced, the stop lever opens, permitting the stacked cups move
up and slide to touch the flat area of the feed. During this time, the stop lever holds the cup stack
again. Only the lowest cup in the stack is let loose. As the feed slide retracts, this loose cup is now
fall onto the hollow part of the slide. The slide repeats its action and provides the cup to the rotating
indexing table.

Cup filler: The filling drive is equipped with a storage reservoir, solenoid valve and plastic pipe for
timely delivery of equal amount of liquid for each indexed operation..
Seal sucker: The seal sucker is spring‐loaded and fitted to a vertical sliding arm with a groove that
permits pick‐up and set‐down operations at the same time. A double action of this kind improves
operation time efficiency. The stack of aluminum seal is raised for every stage, thus giving a fairly
constant pick‐up height.

Seal detector: This drive houses an infrared sensor for detecting the presence of a sealing foil on top
of the filled cup. The sensor uses a beam of infrared light of 13 mm in diameter and a wavelength of
1450 nm. It has a transmitter to emit light and a receiver to detect the emitted light. Depending on
the presence and absence of the sealing foil the transmitted light is attenuated differently, which is
used for error detection. This light attenuation based detection offers a simpler and cheaper
solution.

Cup sealer: Sealing is a fundamental step in automated filling machine. Proper sealing ensures
processing of high quality product. The sealing force is generated from a spring loaded pneumatic
drive and ensures correct operation of the integrated heat sealer.
Cup remover: The filled and sealed cup is removed at the end of the process by lifting it up from
below and pulled in horizontally.

b. The rotary table

This circular metal has six equally spaced circular holes for holding the cups for the automation
process. Furthermore, inductive proximity sensor is implemented to detect indexing position of the
rotary table. After a start button is pressed to start the production process and the table is at its
home position, the motor rotates for an angular position of 60o and stops. After spending a specified
time to perform the simultaneous operation, the motor is turned on again for the next indexing. The
motor characteristics are summarized in Table.

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 Standard Motor Voltage 24 V DC
Weight 0.5 kg
Mounting By screws
Life expectancy Approx. 500 hours @ max efficiency
Torque 7 kg‐cm
Direction Reversible

c. Sensors and feedback devices

Load cell: A load cell is a sensor which transduces force into electrical signal. Strain gauge load cells
are the most common types of load cells. This sensor is employed when quick and precise
measurement is needed. Furthermore, load cells are affordable and have a longer life span when
compared to similar load sensing devices. In this project a strain gauge load cell is used. The basic
idea behind the operation of Strain Gauge load cell relies on the resistance change of the electrical
conductor length which changes due to stress. The electrical signal output of such sensor is typically
very small, which is usually amplified before sending it to the PLC. A single load cell is installed to
monitor weight quality of the filled cup at regular interval. Table depicts the operating
characteristics of the chosen load cell.

Rated capacities 0‐3 kg

Accuracy ±0.6%
Output at rated load 0.9 mV/V
Output at rated load tolerance ±0.1mV/V
Zero balance ±0.045 mV/V
Recommended supply voltage 10 (max 15V)
Operating temp. range ‐20 to +70 °C

Proximity sensors: Proximity sensor detects the presence of objects without physical contact and is
used in this project to enable effective indexing of the rotary table. Inductive proximity sensors work
on the principle of inductor for detecting metallic objects. The main components of the sensor are
the coil, oscillator, threshold detector and an output circuit. As an object comes close to the coil, the
electromagnetic field changes which triggers the detector circuit, based on the amplitude output
from the oscillator. Table summarizes the specifications of the inductive sensor.

Sensing distance 20mm

Accuracy ± 10%
Switching frequency 150 Hz
Operating voltage 10 to 30 VDC
Current consumption 20 mA max
Circuit protection Reverse polarity, output short circuit
Indicator Operating indicator (yellow LED)
Ambient temperature Operating: ‐25 to 85 °C

Programmable logic controller (PLC): PLC in this project serves as a logic control and perform a
advanced processing functions. S7‐300 series PLC are the small to medium‐sized modular PLC made

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by Siemens Company, which have high computing speed, rich software instruction, and easy
scalability with network communication capability. CPU 315‐2DP module is the controller in this
project. Two digital input modules ‐ SM321, two digital output modules ‐ SM322 and analog input
module SM331 are interfaced to the chosen PLC. CPU 314‐2DP module can be connected to a touch
panel the MPI and PROFIBUS‐DP interface, fulfilling real‐time, bi‐directional RS‐485 serial
communication and PROFUBUS communication.

HMI interface: To fulfill the demands of human‐machine interface displaying operation parameters
and establish operator interaction, a high performance embedded integrated touch panel is used.
The HMI use a hand touch operation, having the advantages of low power consumption, small
volume and light weight.
The overall hardware configuration of automated rotary filling and sealing machine control system is
depicted in Fig. 1.

Control switch, limit Weighting,…

HMI
switch…

PS 307 MPI/DP DI/DO Module AI/AO Module

CPU 315‐2DP SM321,322… SM331, 322…

Relay converting
board

Fig.1. hardware configuration of filling and sealing machine control system

6. WORKPLAN

Action Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April

Electromechanical and
control design
Construct an
engineering prototype

Test and optimize an

engineering prototype
Report Writing and
Submission

Page 5 of 8
7. EXPECTED OUTPUTS & BENEFITS AND BENEFICIARIES OF THE RESEARCH RESULTS

The intended core research outputs and benefits can be summarized as follows:

Entrepreneurship development: The output of this project will set on conditions for the emergence of
new agro=processing entrepreneurs for making profit in their business ventures. Therefore by
creating an enabling environment where such entrepreneurs can emerge and actively play a role in
creating businesses in sustainable processing, we can make positive impact on our community. A
climate for stimulating innovation and facilitating meaningful technology diffusion can be created
through technology adaptation that build linkages between educations, research, enterprise, finance
and the government.

Economic growth contribution: This fully automated machine ntegrating process control has a
crucial role to play in the realm of sustainable development to society through contributing to the
economic growth via increases in productivity, advances in technology and improvement in life style.

University‐industry linkages: This applied research would allow for greater exchange between
universities/ research organizations and industry. It would assist in initiating new research to tackle
automation and process control problems faced by industry and the transfer of new research from
universities to industry. The institutes would provide a platform for this through partnership
arrangements between businesses and research institutions.

We strongly believe this research’s approach will help the agro processing industry for continuous
improvement in reliability and maintenance. Improvements in maintenance increase equipment
availability. This has a direct impact on hospitals and their quality of service.

8. AMOUNT OF WORKING TIME TO BE DEVOTED TO THE RESEARCH PROJECT

3 hours/ per week

9. FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS

a. Material Costs
S.no Item Description Total price
(in Birr)
1 Sheet metal, Angle iron , Flat iron, Rectangular tube, Aluminum 13,500
2 Float and Diffused photoelectric sensors 10,000
3 DC geared Motor 15,000
4 DC submersible water pump 7,000
5 Switched‐mode power supply 4,800
6 Switches, 24V DC Solenoid valve and relays 8,000
7 Programmable logic controllers (PLC) and input‐output module 25,000
8 Human machine interface (HMI) 15,000
9 Air operated pistons (actuators) 15,000
Grand total 113,300

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 b. Per Diem/Allowance Costs
S/N List Reason No of Per diem Duration (days) Total
persons (birr) cost
(birr)
1 Arba Minch Material 2* 724 / 459 7 13,349
to Addis Survey (1rounds)
Ababa 7*(1*724+1*459)

2 Arba Minch Purchasing 2 724/459 7 13,349

to Addis (1rounds)
Ababa 7*(2*724+1*459)
Total 14 26,698
* 1 researchers + 1 driver

c. Transportation Costs
S/N List Reason Total Fuel Fuel (lt) No. of Unit Total
Distance (Km/lt) Days price price
(km) (birr) (birr)
1 Arba Minch Material Survey 1*1000 6 166.67 7 17.1 2,850
to Addis
Ababa – one
round trip
2 Arba Minch Purchasing 1*1000 6 166.67 7 17.1 2,850
to Addis
Ababa – one
round trip
Total 333.34 5,700

d. Human Resource
No List of professionals No of persons Wage/day Duration(days) Total
Cost(birr)
1 Experienced Technicians 4 206 28 23,072
Total ‐ ‐ ‐ 23,072

e. Summary of Cost
Category Price (birr)
a Material chart 113,300
b Per diem 26,698
c Transportation cost 5,700
d Human Resource 23,072
Total 168,770

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10. THE UNDERSIGNED AGREES TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SCIENTIFIC AND THE
TECHNICAL CONDUCT OF THE RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, THE
PROVISION OF THE REQUIRED TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL PROGRESS REPORTS AND THE
PRESENTATION OF THE RESEARCH/APPLICATION OUTPUT AT ANNUAL RESEARCH REVIEW AS PER
THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE RESEARCH DIRECTORATE OFFICE, ARBA MINCH UNIVERSITY.

NAME OF INVESTIGATOR(S) SIGNATURE DATE

Atkilt Mulu ___________ _________________

Fitsum Bekele 30/09/2020

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT SIGNATURE DATE

____________ ___________________

HEAD, RCO SIGNATURE DATE

__________________ ____________ ___________________

Stamp

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