Berry Badger Brigade
Medium-scale Black Currant Harvester
Problem statement
Black currants are an emerging U.S. crop, but broader adoption is constrained by the lack of medium-scale, high-throughput mechanical harvesting systems. Existing handheld tools offer insufficient throughput, while the only commercially available alternatives are large, expensive harvesters imported from Europe. This project builds on a prior senior design effort in which a medium-scale, shaker-based black currant harvester was partially prototyped. That work produced an integrated assembly consisting of two shakers, a shaker drive system, two rakes, and a rigid frame. A motor suitable for driving the shakers was also purchased. Key design decisions and subsystem integrations remain before the system can be reliably field tested.
