Ergonomic Intervention in Design and Development of Pedal Operated Aonla Pricking Machine

Aonla, a minor subtropical fruit of India, has been in use for preserve making since ages thereby making its pricking an important economic activity for the people. Till date, the pricking of aonla fruits is done manually employing poorly designed hand tools thus, making the task arduous and time consuming for workers resulting into lower productivity. A pedal operated aonla pricking machine was designed and developed by using response surface methodology. The principles of ergonomics were used while designing to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of work and to maintain and promote worker's health, safety and satisfaction. The ergonomic evaluation was done in terms of physiological, biomechanical and psycho-physical parameters with 25 workers. A study of optimization of process variables namely speed of the machine, duration of pricking activity and seat height was attempted. Besides, sensory evaluation of the preserve was also conducted. Machine was found highly acceptable by the users due to increased safety, comfort and capacity. The machine had a variable capacity from 18.3 to 28.7 kg/h depending upon the speed of pedaling activity.