The Development of Nipa Palm Sugar Stirrer Machine with Automatic Control

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to innovate and develop the automatic nipa palm sugar mixer, 2) to explore the efficiency of the automatic nipa palm sugar mixer, and 3) to analyze the engineering economy of the automatic nipa palm sugar mixer. The instruments employed in the research consisted of the automatic nipa palm sugar mixer and the automatic nipa palm sugar mixer, and an efficiency evaluation form. Mean and Standard Deviation were used in data analysis. The results of the study reveal that 1) the mixer is made of the steel with the shaft and blades made of food industrial stainless steel; using 220 voltage - 50 hertz power; controlled by the wireless Android application - Arduino Board. 2) In 5 times of nipa palm sugar mixing for the amount of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 kilograms, the human workforce took averagely 25.0, 31.2, 40.2, 59.4, and 70.4 minutes, respectively to finish the mixing process. However, in the same conditions, the automatic sugar mixer took averagely 11.4, 17.8, 19.8, 29.8 and 35.2 minutes respectively to finish mixing the sugar. And 3) The results of engineering economy analysis of the automatic nipa palm sugar mixer, comparing between the human workforce and the automatic mixer excluding mixer developing cost, indicated that the mixing the nipa palm sugar by the automatic mixer costs 4,196.70 baht per year; and mixing the nipa palm sugar by human workforce costs 90,000 baht per year. It is concluded that the automatic mixer reduces the nipa palm sugar manufacturing cost for 85,803.30 baht per year or 95.33%.