Automatic Cashew Nut Breaking Using PLC Through Pneumatics

Abstract

Traditionally, cashew nut processing was completed manually in small batches and depends on skill of the labour. Cashew nut must be carefully cracked with hammers to avoid breaking the nut inside as whole nuts hold a higher market value than broken nuts. This paper aims at cashew nut processing which is fully automated having advantages in getting the whole nut at the same time reducing labor, more uniform and precise calibration, less space requirement, less energy consumption and maintenance costs. The paper assesses the benefits of low cost industrial automation, for example, repeatability, high quality control, waste decrease and integration with business framework, increased  profitability and reduction of work in the small scale area in one of the biggest nations by populace and the quickest developing economy—India. The utilization of low cost automation (LCA), especially in small scale commercial enterprises with basic use of gadgets like pneumatic, water powered actuators with electrical control to the current ordinary techniques will make the mechanization easy to yield higher profitability.

Keywords: ladder network, low cost automation (LCA), payback period, programmable logic controller (PLC), Step-5 software

Cite this Article

Kumar ND, Kumar CVBA, Akula N. Automatic Cashewnut Breaking using PLC Through Pneumatics. Journal of Instrumentation Technology and Innovation. 2015; 5(2): 1-4p.