Rakebot: A robotic rake for mixing paddy in sun drying

Abstract

Sun drying is a conventional drying method of paddy commonly used in Asia. During the process, grains are mixed and turned continuously using a rake to maintain good quality. For this reason, a robotic rake or Rakebot was developed in this study to properly mix the grains during sun drying. Rakebot is manually controlled using a mobile application through Bluetooth connection but can also move automatically using the previous movements that were recorded on the first used. It was developed using a microcontroller that gives directions to the motors based on the received instructions from the mobile application. The recorded movements are saved in a memory card by means of a memory card module connected to the microcontroller. The objective measures showed that the Rakebot ensures simultaneous reduction of the moisture content of paddy.