102 September, 2014 Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal Open access at http://www.cigrjournal.org Vol. 16, No.3 Design of an innovative olive picking machine Luigi Solazzi, Roberto Scalmana, Riccardo Adamini, Rodolfo Faglia, Alberto Borboni * (Università degli Studi di Brescia, Italy) Abstract: This work describes the complete design of an olive picking machine especially conceived for secular olive plants with the purpose of increasing the mechanization level of the harvest operation and permitting the production of high quality oil; the design is made considering all the mechanical, agronomical and economical aspects involved in this issue. Once defined the picking technique, the first step consists in the design of the shacking device used for the separation of the olives from the plant, the next step is the design of the support structure, including the arms and the frame; finally there is a description of the hydraulic plant that drives the moving parts of the machine; in order to increase the flexibility of the machine, it is adapted also for other works, like pruning, that can be performed outside the harvest season. Starting from the principal characteristics of the cultivations the design of the machine and its implementation is realized considering all functional features, including verifications of resistance according to the current standards; finally the economic aspects are hinted to confirm the marketing appeal of the machine. Keywords: Olive picker, mechanical harvest, olive oil, secular olive trees Citation: Luigi Solazzi, Roberto Scalmana, Riccardo Adamini, Rodolfo Faglia, Alberto Borboni. 2014. Design of an innovative olive picking machine. Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal, 16(3): 102－112. 1 Introduction The picking operation of olives (Deboli et al., 2014) requires, like in other cultivations, a high mechanization level in order to reduce the production costs of high quality olive oil (Mirzabe, Khazaei, Chegini, & Rostami Nejad, 2013; Sola-Guirado et al., 2014). To realize a high quality product (Di Giovacchino, Sestili, & Di Vincenzo, 2002) the direct picking from the tree is necessary avoiding the gather from the ground. In fact, in ground gathering, the detachment time of the single fruit cannot be controlled, because it be dropped from the plant several days before its harvest (González- Montellano, Baguena, Ramírez-Gómez, & Barreiro, 2014). In this time period the fermentation can lead to a Received date: 2014-02-20 Accepted date: 2014-05-29 Corresponding author: Alberto Borboni, Address correspondence to: Università degli Studi di Brescia – Mech and Ind Eng Dept – Via Branze, 38 – 25123 Brescia – Italy. Email: alberto.borboni@ unibs.it. degeneration of the organoleptic properties increasing, for example, the acidity that determines the reduction of oil quality; for the same purpose, the time between the detachment of the fruit from the tree and its transfer to the oil mill for pressing must be minimized. In the last decades there has been a great diffusion of picking machines for young olive plants that realize the detachment of the olive fruit by vibrations transmitted to the tree trunk. All the developed systems are especially made for small trees whose trunks do not exceed the diameter of 20-30 cm; the picking operation on secular plants is a demanding problem because they have a trunk diameter which can measure even more than a meter thus vibrations can damage stem and roots; the only accepted harvesting is carried out manually with sticks or small shakers but brings very low yields, leading to production costs unable to withstand the international competition. The machine presented in this article works realizing the vibration on the foliage having a direct contact with