Potato Beetle Sweeper
While working as a shop intern, I helped to design and fabricate a push powered Colorado potato beetle sweeper, a mechanical alternative to pesticides or individually picking potato beetles off of plants. This machines saved small-scale organic farmers both time and money, both during testing phases and during production.
This machine was built primarily of salvaged bike parts, with the frame and handles being cut from old steel frame bike frames, and two sets of bike chains used in the transmission. A set of bevel gears from a lawn mower completed the transmission. The machine was powered by the wheel rolling along the ground, sort of a reverse of a bike transmission. A set of bevel gears changed the direction of power, controlling two broom handles which whacked potato plant leaves, hitting potato beetles and their larvae into an easily-removable canvas hopper. The hopper was attached to a light metal box and hooked onto the machine frame.