Design of a coconut tree climbing device

Primary goal of the study is to design a coconut tree climbing device for farmers and residents. It is very difficult to climb on coconut tree manually due to the constant cylindrical structure and single stem. In other type of trees there will be branches for holding and to support the climber. A professional climber with proper training only could able to climb coconut tree. Due to the risk involved nowadays very less people are coming forward to climb on coconut trees. As the educational background of Indian youth is increasing, most of the people may hesitate to come in climbing profession. Considering this scenario, a device which will help the user to climb coconut tree easily will be useful for the people who is having large coconut cultivation as well as residents who is having less coconut trees. This kind of devices will encourage more people to come forward to agricultural sector.

For designing of a coconut tree climbing device, it is very important to understand the customer's aspirations and market segment. This is done by analysing the data of literature review, gemba study, customer survey and market study. Using the outputs of data analysing, quality function deployment (QFD) matrix and product design specification (PDS) were made. According to the PDS, four different concepts were generated to overcome the usability, ergonomic and safety aspects of the problems.

Final concept was selected by customer preference. A working prototype of final concept has made to validate the concept. The result of final model is checked by the customer to validate the usability issues, safety measures and its function. The proposed concept is lighter than those existing by about 30% and is expected to be of lower cost on account of aluminium used in its construction in lieu of steel.