What is the problem?
The problem identified with harvesting mesquite beans is the harsh conditions, such as extreme heat and the tree’s thorns to name a couple, that come with the environment that mesquite trees thrive in. Harsh conditions paired with workers being required to handpick these beans at heights as tall as 15 feet do not complement a business’s desire to increase efficiency. Considering the health benefits of mesquite bean products, there is definitely a market for them across the nation but there is no systematic way of harvesting the beans.
The video shows us current harvesting techniques that are used to get flour from mesquite beans. Although these techniques can look efficient, they do not harvest enough for large scale production of mesquite bean products. The current harvesting technique utilized by our end user, The Cappadona family Ranch, involves a worker climbing a ladder or getting on a hydraulic lift and picking beans by hand. Our team is striving to innovate the industry and provide them with a new, more efficient way of harvesting this valuable raw material.
Things to know
Since mesquite bean harvesting isn’t popular all around the world we decided to begin our research by studying methods of harvesting olives, pecans, and things alike.
The main question that was and is still trying to be answered is “Can harvesting methods used for various fruits and vegetables be combined to create a new and improved agricultural machine?” Mesquite trees come with many obstacles like thorns and their complex geometry. The goal is to create a system that can operate in the unpredictable environments mesquite trees thrive in.
The main question that was and is still trying to be answered is “Can harvesting methods used for various fruits and vegetables be combined to create a new and improved agricultural machine?” Mesquite trees come with many obstacles like thorns and their complex geometry. The goal is to create a system that can operate in the unpredictable environments mesquite trees thrive in.
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From these questions and topics we can identify some main bullet points:
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Key questions/ topics are as follows:
“What are current methods for harvesting other fruits and vegetables?” “How can we work around the various geometries of mesquite trees?” “How valuable are mesquite beans? Will harvesting more beans be worth the investment of new technology for local businesses?” “What are things we need to watch out for? We need to avoid harming the tree so it can continue to provide farmers with beans throughout harvesting seasons.” |
Currently, the method of harvesting is by hand. This is a very inefficient, unsafe way of harvesting because people have to go up and down the trees and work in unfavorable conditions.
This product is the beginning of an industry. The Cappadona ranch has a plethora of products that are available, but due to harvesting capabilities the stock is limited.
The following chart shows our product and the effects it would have on future stake holders, and businesses.
Value Proposition
The mesquite bean harvester is designed with South Texas Farmers, and those alike, in mind. Mesquite trees can be seen as a nuisance to some, but the bean pods that come from them have proven to be valuable. A harvester made for mesquite trees and their pods will increase harvest rates, revenue for businesses, and eliminate the current process of picking bean pods one by one. Having conducted user research we chose to focus on the following four points when considering the design:
- Versatile.
- Due to the complexity of mesquite tree geometry and how much each tree differs from one another our product will have the ability to be used in a number of scenarios.
- Ease Of Use.
- By being user friendly, not as many workers will be required to harvest mesquite beans so work can be delegated amongst employees more efficiently.
- Impact.
- Mesquite bean products have great health benefits. When harvest rates increase these products will be more readily available to those in need, and in return, will increase revenue for local commercial businesses.
- Harvest Rate.
- Upon production of a successful bean harvesting device, harvest rates will increase since workers will not have to handpick each and every bean off of each branch. Increased harvest rates lead to increased revenue for farmers.
Functional Diagram
This functional diagram shows the scope of the project and what the team is trying to accomplish. We start by looking at the tree and identifying if it is a mesquite tree or not. Then we proceed to detach the bean off the tree and collect the raw material of the tree in order to sort it for final production.
Conceptual Variants
The conceptual variants we came up with would further our choice into what we would pick as our system of choice which would be the blower. We needed to develop a system that can be easy to use and can handle harvesting a large amount of mesquite beans over a long period of time without tiring the end user. The above chart shows the different variation of ideas we came up with along with the scores we thought of for each of the categories we made.
