Development of a Trash Harvester for Mn/DOT-Phase 1

Jonathan Chaplin, Associate Professor
Emmanuel Magisson, Research Assistant

Funding Source

Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT)

Objective

The objective of Phase 1 of this research is to develop design specifications for a trash harvester, to select a concept using the decision matrix approach, and finally to develop a detailed engineering design that will be used to build a machine prototype for testing.

Need or Impact

Trash harvesting along the major roads in Hennepin County costs about $2 million per year. Much of this work is done by hand, which is a safety issue. Mechanical harvesting has the potential to be both cheaper and safer. In this phase of the project, we will work with Mn/DOT personnel to develop design specifications for a trash harvesting machine. The specifications will include area capacity and range of trash to be harvested (paper, bottles, metal parts, wood debris, pop cans. etc.).

Project Status

A prototype harvester has been designed. It uses a specialized hillside tractor as its power unit. During the design process we went through several iterations to come up with a final prototype. Trash gathering and material handling equipment will be added to the tractor. An auxiliary hydraulic system, driven by the PTO of the tractor, has been added to accommodate the flow requirement of the harvesting mechanism. We have chosen to show several of the early models that were made using ProEngineer®. The final design cannot be shown as it is proprietary information at the time of writing.