Design and fabrication of a semi-automated sorting machine for standard sizes and differentiate the ripe, unripe, overripe, and damaged tomatoes/
Carl C. Cuaresma, Jyle Ehronne S. Ladao, Ron Eleazar C. Masangcay, Juzzel Brylle G. Ogayon, and Jayco C. Omadto.--
- Manila: Technological University of the Philippines, 2025.
- x, 86pages: 29cm.
Bachelor's thesis
College of Engineering.--
Includes bibliographic references and index.
This study addresses the challenges in traditional tomato sorting methods by developing a semi-automated tomato sorting machine capable of classifying tomatoes based on their ripeness. The project is focused on small to medium-scale farms specially in Plaridel, Lipa City, Batangas, where farmers currently sort tomatoes manually by ripeness, size, and by identifying damaged or overripe. The machine is designed to classify tomatoes into two main categories: Accepted (ripe and unripe) and Rejected (overripe and damaged). It aims to process tomatoes within 1 hour, with a sorting rate of approximately 100-120 kg per hour. The machine's performance is evaluated based on safety, user-friendliness, tomato quality preservation, and classification accuracy. To achieve these goals, the study involved interviews and surveys with local farmers, literature reviews, calculations, simulations, and extensive experimentation. The final prototype includes essential components such as a hopper (container), vision box, conveyor, and truncated cone. feeds tomatoes individually to the conveyor, which operates at 10.02 rpm. The vision box, powered by computer vision, detects and classifies tomatoes. Finally, the truncated cone, rotating at 20 rpm, effectively sorts the tomatoes based on classification results. The results confirm that the semi-automated tomato sorting machine meets the design objectives, maintaining classification accuracy while preserving tomato quality throughout the 1-hour operation.