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Design and Fabrication of a Semi-Automatic Flower Tying Machine

Article in TEST ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT · April 2021

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 March - April 2020
ISSN: 0193-4120 Page No. 7330 - 7336

Design and Fabrication of a Semi-Automatic Flower

Tying Machine
Grynal D’Melloa1, Jason Nigel D’Souza2, Jeevan Alex Lobo3, Preethesh D’Souza4, Xanely D’Souza5
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NMAM Institute of Technology, Nitte
2,3,4,5
UG student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NMAM Institute of Technology, Nitte
1
grynal@[Link]

Article Info Abstract

Volume 83 Flowers have been an integral part of India’s rich culture and heritage and are used on all
Page Number: 7330 - 7336 occasions for centuries. Whether it is a wedding, worship or medicinal practices; flowers
Publication Issue: form an important part of living in Indian culture and tradition. This has led to the
March - April 2020 appreciation of flowers not only for their aesthetic value but also for their economic
importance. This paper aims in presenting a semi-automatic flower tying machine using
Article History conveyor belt, gripper assembly and the knotting mechanisms. Initially the flowers are
Article Received: 24 July 2019 placed on the conveyor belt manually by hand. The flowers are passed through the conveyor
Revised: 12 September 2019 belt towards the gripper. Gripper assembly is fixed at another end of the conveyor belt
Accepted: 15 February 2020 which is used to pick the flowers. Then the knot can be made by the knotting mechanisms.
Publication: 07 April 2020

I. INTRODUCTION flower to produce a long garland. This process is

repetitive and the person may undergo fatigue after
Traditional process of tying flowers is a day to day
repetitive work. There is no known mechanism
affair in many parts of India. There are several types
where the flower tying can be automated. There are
of flowers that are manually tied by hand using
several automated mechanisms for tying a bunch of
different procedures. Some type of flower garlands
flowers for easier transportation or storage, whereas
are used by women to be adorned on their hair, and
an automated mechanism for tying the flowers to
some are used for decorative purposes for deities,
produce a garland is not known. Hence there is a
festivities, celebrations etc. For some, it is a source
need to automate the conventional flower tying
of livelihood and also one of the honest sources of
process.
income especially in some regions of South India.
With respect to flowers such as Jasmine, Marigold, Anandhi et al. proposed concept for flower tying
Lily and other flowers that are used to make called “Flower Knitting Machine” in which a
garlands, flowers are gathered together and knotted conveyor belt was used to carry the flower from one
in a specific way to make a garland. When done place to another. The belt was made up of fiber
manually, it is a time-consuming affair and a person material so vibration would be less and the flower
ties each and every flower to produce a long would not lose its freshness. Two DC motor were
garland. In the Udupi district of coastal region of used to rotate the belt. A microcontroller-based pick
Karnataka in India, jasmine flowers are primarily and place robot was used that would transport the
grown which are also named as Shankerpura flowers from the conveyor to the sewing machine.
Mallige [1]. Infrared sensors were used to sense the presence of
flower as the transmitter to receiver path for infrared
The conventional flower tying process is a time-
sensor was intermittent by placed object. Hence it
consuming affair and a person ties each and every
picked the flower in the conveyor belt and placed it
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in the sewing machine. The needle descends to the 2.2 Frame

bottom of its stroke, and simultaneously the shuttle
The frame holds the conveyor system and the
slides, vibrates, or oscillates as far as the end of its
gripper assembly. For the development of the
backward movement. Then needle begins to rise,
prototype of the semi-automatic flower tying
and the shuttle immediately after begins to move
machine, PVC pipes were used as the material is
forward. It is long enough to cause it to loop while
light, rigid, economical and easily available.
loop is formed then the robotic arm will place the
flower in the loop and it is tied the speed of the 2.3 The Conveyor System
sewing machine is also varied by using stepper
The conveyor system is used to carry the flowers
motor control the diameter of the knot can also
towards the gripper end. The conveyor system
varied based on the thickness of the flower [2].
consists of a conveyor, a pulley and a DC motor that
From the literature review and various studies are used to form a simple belt drive system.
carried out, it was found that there was no
2.3.1 Conveyor belt
commercially available mechanism for tying
flowers. Hence an attempt has been made to develop A belt is a looped strip of flexible material used to
a mechanism to automate the conventional flower mechanically link two or more rotating shafts. The
tying process. belt is looped over the pulleys. It contains
projections which enable the belt to be properly
II. PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
positioned in the pulley to avoid the possibilities of
The design and the various parts involved in Semi- slippage. The belt used is made of rubber having a
Automatic Flower Tying Machine are shown in Fig length of 122 cm and width 2.5 cm.
1. The design consists of various sub-systems which
2.3.2 Pulley
are explained as follows with reference to fig. 1.
A pulley is a wheel spinning about its axis to aid the
motion of a belt. Here two pulleys are used to create
a simple belt drive system. One is a driver pulley
which is driven by a DC motor. This transmits the
power from the motor to another driven pulley to
obtain the rotation of the belt. The pulley used for
the model is made of plastic with a groove running
all through so that the belts fits perfectly inside. The
diameter of the pulley is 7cm and width is 2cm. Fig
3 shows the pulley used.
2.3.3 DC Motor
Fig. 1 Design of the Semi-Automatic Flower DC motor is used to convert the electrical energy
Tying Machine into mechanical energy i.e. rotation of the shaft. The
2.1 Base DC motor used for the carriage assembly is mounted
on the frame and its shaft is connected to the pulley
Base is the foundation for the model and supports that drives the belt. The motor specifications are: 10
other components. The material used is plywood as R.P.M., 5 kg-cm torque, 12 V supply voltage.
it is rigid, light, economical and easily available.

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2.4 The Gripper Assembly linear slide. Fig 3 shows the cam assembly
implemented for the project.
The gripper assembly is used to pick up the flowers
from the conveyor belt so that they can be knotted as
per the requirement. The gripper assembly consists
of a motor actuated gripper and rack and pinion
arrangement. Fig 2 shows the gripper assembly
implemented.

Fig. 3 The Cam Assembly

2.5.1 Circular Disc
The circular disc is driven by a 10 R.P.M. DC motor
Fig. 2 Gripper Assembly that provides rotational motion to it. The disc
consists of a needle that carries the thread through it.
2.4.1 Gripper The needle is mounted eccentrically to the center of
The gripper used is an acrylic mechanical gripper the disc. This arrangement therefore helps in
that is actuated by using a DC motor. Change in forming loops around the stalk of the flowers which
rotation direction of the DC Motor, generates Jaw forms the primary loop and also the secondary loop.
Open & Close Action. The motor used is a 5V DC 2.5.2 The linear slide
motor. The DC motor can be easily being controlled
with the help of DPDT Switch (manual mode) or The linear slide is used to transport the circular disc
with the help of any microcontroller along with to the specified positions for the knotting operation
L293D Motor Driver module. to take place. In order to achieve this a DVD drive
stock is used. The drive stock has highly finished
2.4.2 Rack and pinion arrangement guideways on which a laser head is made to slide.
The rack and pinion arrangement have been The sliding action is controlled by means of 3.5 V
designed such that the gripper can move up or down DC motor. The circular disc is mounted on the laser
as per the requirement. The racks are attached on head in such a way that the movement of the laser
either side of the gripper and are driven by pinion head will move the circular disc linearly. Fig 4
gears that are in mesh with the racks. The pinion shows the DVD drive stock used.
gears are driven by 10 R.P.M. DC motors. The
speed and direction of the motors can be controlled
by L293D Motor Driver Module.
2.5 The Cam Assembly
The cam assembly is used to make a primary loop
on the stalk of the flowers. The assembly consists of
a motor driven circular pulley and a motor driven
Fig. 4 DVD Stock Drive
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2.6 The Loop Transferring System 2.7 Spools

The loop transferring system is used to transfer the The spools are provided on both the sides near the
secondary loop formed by the circular disc onto the pulleys of the conveyor belt. Fig 1 shows the
stalk of the flower on the other side to complete the position of the spools. The spools are driven by 10
knotting procedure. The transferring system consists R.P.M DC motors. Spool 1 is positioned to the left
of a X-Y slide on which a pipe is mounted as shown of the conveyor belt. It supplies the sufficient
in the Fig 5. The pipe is made of L shape and half quantity of thread or fiber for tying the flowers. It is
sectioned at the end near the elbow. The pipe is also used to tighten the knot upon reversal of motor
designed in such a manner so as to carry the direction. The spool 2 is positioned to the right of
secondary loop produced by the circular disc to the the conveyor belt. It is used to carry the knotted
stalk of the flowers. The half section helps in flowers away from the gripper.
placing the loop on the stalk.
2.8 The Control Unit
The control unit is used to synchronize all the
activities of the machine. It is used to independently
control the individual motor movements. The
control unit consists of Arduino Mega 2560 Rev3
microcontroller board and a L293D Motor driver
board [3]. The Arduino Mega acts as the brain of the
machine and the L293D module is used to control
the motors in either direction.

Fig. 5 The loop transferring system 2.9 Power Supply

2.6.1 XY Slide The power supply is through a 12V DC adapter and

5V DC adapter. It can take any input from 100V to
The X-Y slide helps in the movement of the pipe
220V AC and provide and output voltage of 12V
both in X direction and Y direction to the specified
DC or 5V based on the adapter. This is a
positions so as to complete the knotting procedure.
replacement for a DC battery since it requires
As the commercially available X-Y slide is costly, a
constant recharging.
customized X-Y slide is developed by using two
linear slides of DVD drive stock which are mounted III. CIRCUIT CONNECTIONS
at right angles to each other. This helps in producing
Fig 7 shows the connections of the motors to the
the desired motion. The details of the linear slide are
Arduino through the L293D motor driver. Seven of
discussed in the previous section. Fig 6 shows the
the ten motors are powers by a 12V DC adapter and
customized X-Y slide implemented in this study.
three motors are powered by 5V DC adapter. Each
L293D Motor driver can be connected to two motors
and hence 5 driver circuits are used. Table 1 gives
the details of the numbering of motors in the circuit.

Fig. 6 Customized XY Slide

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Table 1 Numbering of motors for circuit 5. Thread Spool 1 Motor

6. Knotting Cam Motor
Motor No. Function 7. Thread Spool 2 Motor
1. Pinion Gear Motor 8. Y Slide Motor
2. Pinion Gear Motor 9. X Slide Motor
3. Gripper Motor 10. Linear Slide Motor
4. Conveyor Belt Motor

Fig. 7 Circuit Connections

IV. 4. WORKING mechanism retracts back to its position. The roller
with the spool of the thread rolls back slightly to
Fig. 8 shows the fabricated prototype of Semi-
tighten the knot. The tension is retained through a
Automotic Flower Tying Machine. The design
tension retainer spool on the other end of the setup.
basically consists of a customized conveyor belt
Thus, the looping operation is performed on pair of
with driven by DC motors. Initially the flowers are
flowers. All the motors required for the drives are
manually arranged in alternate fashion two at a time
controlled by Arduino.
on the groove of the conveyor. The conveyor
transports the flowers on it exactly below the
gripper. The gripper mechanism grips the flowers
and lifts them up to a specific height. The cam
mechanism is actuated to form a primary loop, the
gripper still holding the flowers. After forming the
loop, the cam mechanism retracts back by means of
a DVD stock drive to form a secondary loop on to a
semi- circular hollow pipe. The loop on the semi-
circular hollow pipe is transferred onto the flowers
by means of a customized X-Y slide made by two
DVD stock drives. After transferring the loop, the
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Fig. 9 Tested Fiber Samples

In order to approximate the diameter of the fiber the

average of the five samples was taken which was
619.6843μm. In case of the cotton threads there was
no much variation in the diameter since the threads
Fig. 8 Prototype of a Semi-Automatic Flower are manufactured in the industries. The average
Tying Machine diameter was found to be around 500μm.
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 5.2 Motor Torque Calculations
5.1 Diameter of Strings Used for Tying Flowers Motor torque calculations are done to justify the
The commonly used strings for tying flowers are selection of the motors used for the various
either banana fiber or cotton threads. The diameter components.
of the banana fiber used varies along the length 5.2.1 Torque calculation for the circular disc
since the fibers are extracted by hand. This test was
carried out to find out the average diameter of the The motor has to carry the weight of the circular
banana fiber that is used for tying flowers. Five disc and the needle mounted on it which is
samples of hand extracted banana fibers were approximately 200g. The coefficient of friction
chosen and the diameters were measured using a between the motor shaft and the disc is assumed to
Tool Makers Microscope. Fig 9 shows the samples be 0.1 and the frictional force is calculated as per
measured and the Table 2 shows the variation in eqs. (1) and (2).
diameter of the fibers. 𝐹 =𝜇∗𝑁 i)
Table 2 Variation in diameter of the banana 𝐹 =𝜇∗𝑚∗𝑔 ii)
fibers
Where F= Frictional force in N
Diameter in micro
Sample No.
meters (μm) μ= Coefficient of friction
1. 676.0972
2. 690.3640 m= mass of the disc =200g
3. 520.9061 200
4. 501.1170 F=0.1*1000*9.81=0.1962N iii)
5. 709.9373
𝑇=𝐹∗𝑅 iv)

Where T= Torque in N-m

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F= Frictional force in N • A practical understanding of the challenges

faced in developing the mechanisms and
R= Radius of the disc in m
manufacturing the same as accurately as possible.
35
T=0.1962*1000=0.00687N-m v)
• By the implementation of this machine, it is
The torque provided by the motor=5kg-cm 0.4905N- possible to reduce the manual work and the time
m consumed in the flower tying process.
Since 0.4905>0.00687, The motor overcomes the • This innovative idea may help people to lift
friction force of the disc. their lifestyle who are involved in this field.
5.2.2 Calculation for the rack and pinion
• In the long run, this machine can be proved
Number of teeth on pinion gear, Z= 36 to be efficient and economical.

Pitch circle diameter of pinion, d = 40mm REFERENCES

Therefore, module, m =𝑍 = 36 = 0.9

𝑑 40 [1]. Handy, F., Cnaan, R. A., Bhat, G., & Meijs, L.
C. (2011). Jasmine growers of coastal
Total length of the rack = 145mm Karnataka: Grassroots sustainable community-
based enterprise in India. Entrepreneurship &
Number of teeth on the rack = 46
regional development, 23(5-6), 405-417.
Distance between 10 pitches = 30mm [2]. Anandhi, R., D. Kowsalya, and N. Jerusha
Chintu. "Flower Knitting Machine." Asian
Therefore, module, m
(𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 10 𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 /10) (30/10)
Journal of Applied Science and Technology
= = = 0.95 (AJAST) 1, no. 3 (2017): 17-19.
𝜋 𝜋
[3]. Mega, Arduino. "2560 Rev3." Dostupno na:
C factor: The c-factor is linear rack travel per one
[Link] arduino. cc/arduino-mega-2560-
full revolution of the pinion.
rev3 (2018).
In one full revolution of the pinion (360 degree), the
rack travels a distance of 120mm.
120
Therefore, C factor = = 0.33mm/degree.
360

VI. CONCLUSIONS
As flower tying plays a major role in the current
scenario, there is a need for automation and the
authors have made an attempt to bridge this gap by
developing a semi-automatic flower tying machine.
The following conclusions can been drawn from this
study.

• A “Semi-Automatic Flower Tying Machine”

has been designed and fabricated successfully which
is the first of its kind.

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