RESEARCH ARTICLE

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 34 (3) September 2022, p. 488-496

FEASIBILITY STUDY OF OIL PALM HARVESTING USING PULSE FIBRE LASER SYSTEM WITH DIFFERENT LENSES

MOHD IKMAL HAFIZI AZAMAN1 *; AHMAD SYAZWAN RAMLY1 ; MOHD KHAIRUL FADZLY MDRADZI1 ; MOHD RIZAL AHMAD1 ; MOHD RAMDHAN MOHD KHALID1 ; MOHD AZWAN MOHD BAKRI1 ; YASMIN MUSTAPHA KAMIL1 and MOHD ADZIR MAHDI2

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2022.0005
Received: 24 May 2021   Accepted: 15 November 2021   Published Online: 28 January 2022
ABSTRACT

Malaysia is currently experiencing a labour shortage in oil palm plantations, estimated to account for 46%of the total industrial workforce. The industry is striving to increase worker productivity by adopting new technologies using a variety of work methods. Increment of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production in oil palm plantations has created a demand for improved harvesting technique. Some of the technologies that have been developed are practical, yet they impose several technical issues that must be solved. The potential of oil palm frond cutting using pulse fibre laser was explored. The optimisation of the laser cutting system was made using a 250 mm and 63 mm focus lens. A better cutting rate was achieved using 63 mm focus lens due to its shorter focal length (compared to the 250 mm focus lens) and capability to retain stability at a higher pulse laser frequency. The same lens was able to perform complete cuts on oil palm fronds with power and speed of50 Watt at 500 kHz and 1 mm/s, respectively. Good consistency was also exhibited with an average cutting rate of 0.1024 mm/s. Perhaps with further investigation and optimisation, such technique can be a viable alternative to the FFB harvesting methods that the industry is practicing today.

KEYWORDS:


1 Malaysian Palm Oil Board,
6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi,
43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.

2 Department of Computer and Communication System
Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang,
Selangor, Malaysia.

* Corresponding author e-mail: ikmalhafizi@mpob.gov.my