Implementation of Four Terminal Fruit Battery With Charge Switching

Abstract

Palm oil sector is considered one of main economical contributions in countries such a Malaysia where approximately 6.1% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is contributed. Low Oil Extraction Rate (OER) from poor quality fresh fruit bunches have led to a decrease the oil palm production. The traditional method of using human naked eye to inspect the Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) during reception process is one of common methods that is still being practiced which eventually would lead to inaccuracy in grading and harvesting. This paper presents a new approach to identify the maturity of oil palm fruit using fruit-based maturity sensor and the electronic circuit. The study utilizes multiple terminals to evaluate the sensitivity of the sensor by analyzing the relation between the load voltage and the moisture content in the oil palm fruit. The sensitivity of the sensor increased by three-fold when four terminal fruit battery was used compared to single terminals with 47.61% for the moisture range of 50-80% value. This proposed approach significantly improved the accuracy in grading the oil palm fruit which is the most common challenge posed during the reception process.

Keywords

• Fresh fruit bunches
• fruit battery
• oil palm maturity sensor
• sensor voltage