Project Readiness Package Rev 12/09/13

Administrative Information:

·  Project Name (tentative): / Breadfruit Shredder and Flour Mill
·  Project Number, if known: / P15482

·  Preferred Start/End Quarter in Senior Design:

Fall/Winter / Fall/Spring / Winter/Spring

·  Faculty Champion:

Name / Dept. / Email / Phone
Sarah Brownell / ME /

·  Other Support, if known:

Name / Dept. / Email / Phone
Elizabeth DeBartolo / ME / / (585) 475-2152

·  Project “Guide” if known:

Name / Dept. / Email / Phone

·  Primary Customer, if known (name, phone, email):

Name / Email / Phone
Francius Estimable /

·  Sponsor(s):

Name/Organization / Contact Info. / Type & Amount of Support Committed
MSD / $500


Project Overview:

Farmers in the Cooperative KGPB (Kolaborasyon Gwoupman Peyizan O’Boy) in Borgne, Haiti have requested help to obtain more income from their agricultural products by transforming them for sale in either local and foreign markets. Discussions with cooperative members indicated that breadfruit is one of the most wasted agricultural products in the area they farm. One problem for Haitian farmers in Bornge is that they lack the ability to store breadfruit for longer use. Breadfruit is also difficult to transport to market on the mountain goat paths, and everyone in the area harvests it at the same time, overwhelming the market. With so much breadfruit available at one time, the price drops, making transporting it not worth the effort. The goal of this project is to help the local people get through the hungry-season and make more profit. Breadfruit can be converted to flour within several simple processes, just shred, dry and grind. Farmers can use breadfruit floor to bake cookies and other foods, including the staple FouFou. Also in flour form it will be much easier for farmers to store and transport the product for future eating and selling.

Students of Mechanical Engineering Technology worked on the breadfruit problem during Spring 2014 and their design concepts are available for review. There are other designs detailed on-line from various organizations. One concern with existing designs is the use of blades that are difficult to find locally in Haiti.

Detailed Project Description:

Customer Needs and Objectives:

1.1 / Profit / Processes breadfruit quickly
1.2 / Profit / Increases shelf life of breadfruit (dried well, prevents contamination)
1.3 / Profit / Provides consistent breadfruit flour quality (dryness, color, final grain size)
2.1 / Feasibility / Shared among farmers
2.2 / Feasibility / Easily assembled in mountains
2.3 / Feasibility / Accessible User Interface
2.4 / Feasibility / Uses available resources
2.5 / Feasibility / Minimizes water needs
2.6 / Feasibility / Does not require import of parts (blades) for general maintenance and operation.
3.1 / Cost / Low Investment cost
3.2 / Cost / Low Maintenance Cost (Cheap replaceable parts)
3.3 / Cost / Low/no energy (fuel, electricity, etc.) cost
4.1 / Safety / Withstand repetitive use (12 hours/day for 3 months a year for 3 years or more)
4.2 / Safety / Easy to clean and sterilize (with alcohol or bleach)
4.3 / Safety / Survive extreme weather
4.4 / Safety / Protects people from being cut
5.1 / Ease of use / Requires little technological background or training
5.2 / Ease of use / Easy to maintain
5.3 / Ease of use / Easy to store/small storage volume
5.4 / Ease of use / Easy to move around/transportable

Constraints:

1. Quantity input: There is a inedible hardcore in the middle of the breadfruit need to be removed first before fed into the hopper.

2. Water: Minimize water use.

3. Transport Method: Limited to human-power or donkey.

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Project Readiness Package Rev 12/09/13

Project Deliverables:

1. Shredder

2. Grinder

3. Instruction on breadfruit preparation

4. Instruction on installation

5. Instruction on cleaning

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Project Readiness Package Rev 12/09/13

Item / Budget
Materials for building shredder and blade / < 30$
Hardware for shredder / < 10$
Materials for building grinder and roller / < 40$
Hardware for grinder / < 10$
Materials for converting used bike / < 20$
Hardware for converting used bike / < 5$
Misc. Expense / < 10$
Total Budget / 125$

Budget Estimate

Intellectual Property (IP) considerations:

This project aims at improving living conditions in developing country, so I suggest to open up the final blueprint to public, especially the NPO.

Other Information:

This project is part of the Technology for Farmers in Developing Nations which consist of five sub-projects. This project have interactions with other ones: 1. It need “Fruit Drying” project to complete the important drying process; 2. The final project need to be packaged with the help of “Food Package” project.

For Senior design team, I suggest to further split it into two sub-projects, it’s a challenge for a team to finish designing even a single one within a semester.

Student Staffing:

Skills Check List

1 for priority, 2 for lower, 3 for least

Mechanical Engineering

1 / 3D CAD / Aerodynamics
MATLAB programming / CFD
1 / Machining (basic) / Biomaterials
3 / Stress analysis (2D) / 3 / Vibrations
2 / Statics/dynamic analysis (2D) / Combustion engines
Thermodynamics / 1 / GD&T (geometic dimensioning & tolerancing)
Fluid dynamics (CV) / Linear controls
LabView (data acquisition, etc.) / Composites
Statistics / DFM
Robotics (motion control)
FEA / Composites
Heat transfer / Other:
Modeling of electromechanical & fluid systems / Other:
2 / Fatigue & static failure criteria (DME) / Other:
3 / Specifying machine elements
Reviewed by (ME faculty):

Industrial & Systems Engineering

Statistical analysis of data – regression / Shop floor IE – methods, time study
Materials science / Programming (C++)
Materials processing – machining lab
1 / Facilities planning – layout, material handling / DOE
Production systems design – lean, process improvement / 1 / Systems design – product/process design
3 / Ergonomics – interface of people & equipment (procedures, training, maintenance) / Data analysis, data mining
Math modeling – linear programming), simulation / 2 / Manufacturing engr.
2 / Project management / DFx -- Manuf., environment, sustainability
Engineering economy – ROI / Other:
Quality tools – SPC / Other:
Production control – scheduling / Other:
Reviewed by (ISE faculty):

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Project Readiness Package Rev 12/09/13

Anticipated Staffing Levels by Discipline:

Discipline / How Many? / Anticipated Skills Needed
EE / 0
ME / 3 / Power Train System Design; 3D CAD; Machining; GD&T; Stress analysis (2D);
CE / 0
ISE / 1 / Project management; Manufacturing engr.
Other / 0

Other Resources Anticipated:

Category / Description / Resource Available?
Faculty / Translate French into English
Environment
Equipment
Materials / Breadfruit
Other / Test the device in Haiti

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Project Readiness Package Rev 12/09/13

Prepared by: / SIHAN LIU / Date:


Appendix I:

MSD Schedule for the first three weeks

Phase / Start Date / Duration
Prepare the interview with Haiti farmers and other stakeholders / 27-Jan-14 / 7
Functional Decomposition / 27-Jan-14 / 14
Conduct interview / 3-Feb-14 / 7
Translate the interview into customer requirement / 10-Feb-14 / 2
Draft engineer requirement / 10-Feb-14 / 2
Draft house of quality / 12-Feb-14 / 1
Brain storm - Concept Generation / 12-Feb-14 / 1
Concept selection / 13-Feb-14 / 3
Review / 16-Feb-14 / 1

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