Improving the efficiency of cassava processing through an automated processing line

In this paper, a research effort was made to develop an automated gari processing plant that runs with little human interference. Such systems have great values in the local communities where gari is processed. It will reduce the production time for gari, improve the efficiency of the available gari processing machines/methods and remove the drudgery and operational risks faced by the machine operators. An electronics based control system for garri processing machines was designed for each stage of the processing using sensors and microcontrollers. These stages are linked with conveyor belts and electric motors. The entire plant was simulated in Proteus while the system dynamics were modelled and analysed using Matlab Simulink. The results showed there is a 79.9% increase in profit, 22.55% reduction in cost of production and 73.04% reduction in labour cost when using an automated processing line over manual methods in gari processing.