Highlights Development of a modular system adaptable to varying farm sizes and the architectural structure of cacao trees. Performance evaluation using realistic prototypes, achieving pickup rates between 28% and 67% across different pod orientations and surfaces, providing quantitative insights into system effectiveness under diverse operational conditions. Design considerations prioritizing scalability, user accessibility, and potential for future mechanization enhancements. Abstract. This study aimed to develop a modular, low-cost mechanical system to assist in the collection of cacao pods, particularly by addressing the labor-intensive “pickup” stage commonly found in smallholder and large-scale harvesting operations. The system was designed with three main components: a lollipop-based pickup mechanism, a pod collector with a comb-style separator, and a modular cart frame. Field testing was conducted under two surface conditions (asphalt and grass), using simulated cacao pods of various shapes and orientations to evaluate pickup effectiveness. The results demonstrated pickup rates ranging from 28% to 67%, depending on pod orientation and surface type, highlighting both the system's potential and areas for optimization. Additional factors, such as travel speed, applied downward force, pod reorientation, and ground resistance, were observed to influence system performance and offer directions for future optimization. The modular structure allowed adaptability across farm types, and multiple power source configurations (manual, bike-assisted, or tractor-towed) were demonstrated. A key limitation is that performance was tested using simulated pods, which may not fully represent real-world field conditions. Despite this, the findings provide valuable insights into the feasibility of mechanizing pod collection in diverse agricultural settings. These results indicate that the system could substantially reduce manual labor requirements, improve harvesting efficiency, and serve as a foundation for further mechanization innovations in cacao production. Keywords: Agricultural mechanization, Cacao pod pickup, Harvesting efficiency, Labor reduction, Modular system.
Pertiwi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.