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I am from a southern district of Tamil Nadu. Here, we follow a different method to cut the coconuts. The harvesters do not climb the tree. Instead, they tie to

I am from a southern district of Tamil Nadu. Here, we follow a different method to cut the coconuts. The harvesters do not climb the tree. Instead, they tie together bamboo poles to form one long pole and tie a sickle to one end. The harvester then cuts the coconut bunch from the ground. It is much more efficient and faster than climbing the trees. When I was young, I was fascinated by their craft. They are so good, that they could determine how ripen the coconuts were just by looking from the ground. Some times from very tall trees that are over 100 feet tall. And to balance a pole that large..

eeretekeh 6y ago
I would love to see someone come up with an ingenious solution for a similar job, but is much more dangerous, difficult and nuanced - climbing palm (palmyra) trees to get palmyra juice. The tools they use are a loop made of fiber from palmyra leaf and a leather shield. The பனையேரி (literally means palmyra climber) wears the loop over their foot and the leather shield over their chest and they pull themselves up to the top of the tree. It's a brutally punishing and exhausting task. (0) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0suSGmww9lQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0suSGmww9lQ
- guru4consulting 6y ago
  climbing palm trees and cutting down those palm fruits (called nongu in Tamil Nadu) is much more harder.. probably 10x more harder than coconut tree. Long poles with sickle may help in harvesting coconuts, but not the palm fruits.. a robotic arm with motorized blade will be ideal for palm trees.
neurostimulant 6y ago
Here people train small monkeys to climb and harvest the coconut fruits. The monkeys can only fell down old dried coconut fruits as the young fruit has tough stem, which requires knife to cut (obviously you wouldn't want to train a monkey to use a knife). The practice is now banned in many regions, so it's about time for robots to take over.
zabil 6y ago
I grew up in Kerala (the place the robot is demoed). The method you mentioned is tough in a densely populated place like mine. Palm trees grow in our yards. A human needs to climb the tree and drop the coconuts carefully to avoid breaking tiled roofs or causing any other damage. I believe it might be an issue with this robot too. But you can see this requirement in the design of other tools. It always involves climbing the tree.

eeretekeh 6y ago

I would love to see someone come up with an ingenious solution for a similar job, but is much more dangerous, difficult and nuanced - climbing palm (palmyra) trees to get palmyra juice. The tools they use are a loop made of fiber from palmyra leaf and a leather shield. The பனையேரி (literally means palmyra climber) wears the loop over their foot and the leather shield over their chest and they pull themselves up to the top of the tree. It's a brutally punishing and exhausting task. (0) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0suSGmww9lQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0suSGmww9lQ

guru4consulting 6y ago
climbing palm trees and cutting down those palm fruits (called nongu in Tamil Nadu) is much more harder.. probably 10x more harder than coconut tree. Long poles with sickle may help in harvesting coconuts, but not the palm fruits.. a robotic arm with motorized blade will be ideal for palm trees.

neurostimulant 6y ago

Here people train small monkeys to climb and harvest the coconut fruits. The monkeys can only fell down old dried coconut fruits as the young fruit has tough stem, which requires knife to cut (obviously you wouldn't want to train a monkey to use a knife). The practice is now banned in many regions, so it's about time for robots to take over.

zabil 6y ago

I grew up in Kerala (the place the robot is demoed). The method you mentioned is tough in a densely populated place like mine. Palm trees grow in our yards. A human needs to climb the tree and drop the coconuts carefully to avoid breaking tiled roofs or causing any other damage. I believe it might be an issue with this robot too. But you can see this requirement in the design of other tools. It always involves climbing the tree.