La Raccolta delle olive da mensa mediante l'uso di una agevolatrice elettrica innovativa

The Sardinia region is presented in tenth place in the national olive sector with an area of 23.363 hectares planted with olive trees. Regional production of table olives, compared to the total collected production (table olives + olive oil), amounted to 11,27% (3.135 t against a national production of 27.800 t), against a national average of 2%. Unfortunately the low mechanization level penalizes the sector strongly. Manual harvesting of table olives is the most expensive phase of the entire production process and the introduction of an electric labor saving machine can significantly increase the productivity of this crop. The development of a new machine aims to change the method of collection and in that sense a new machine has been designed. The aims of this work were two. The first objective was to evaluate the parameters combinations of the machine used, evaluating the different coating materials (Silicone; Natural rubber; Vulcanized rubber), of three diameters of plastic material used for cover the teeth of the harvesting rack (7 mm, 14 mm, 19 mm) and three speed rotation (2000 rpm, 3000 rpm, 4000 rpm), in terms of the realization of high percentage of fruit without injury, which is essential for use the transformation method called “Greek style”. The second objective was to determine and evaluate the Hand Arm Vibration (HAV) transmitted to the operator’s hand in order to assess guidelines for the safety use of the equipment.