Erbron-C: Technological Creation of IPB University Students Wins 5 Awards in Various Competitions

A tool to effectively harvest palm fruit called Erbron-C, creation of IPB University students have won at least 5 awards in 2019, both on national and international levels. The awards were received from PIMNAS, Tanoto Student Research Award, AESEP Design Competition, ASEAN-India, and the Ministry of Education and Culture. Erbron-C has been field-tested and is in works to be mass produced and sold to palm oil plantations across Indonesia.

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Erbron-C successfully gains multiple awards both in national and international levels. In 2019, the device has won at least 5 awards. The awards are Gold Medal in Poster and Presentation at the 32^nd PIMNAS (National Student Scientific Week), 1^st Place in Tanoto Student Research Award, 1st Place in Agricultural Engineering for Sustainable Agriculture Production Student (AESAP) Design Competition, 2^nd Place in ASEAN-India, and last, the Anugerah Kemahasiswaan III 2019 award from the Ministry of Education and Culture, specifically from the General Director of Learning and Student Affairs, Directorate of Student Affairs on 13^th December 2019 in Jakarta. Erbron C is an ergonomic device designed to harvest oil palm fruits with a clipping mechanism made of steel spiral picking units or fiber rods.

This device was created by five students, Tegar Nur Hidayat, Sanhaji, Dikki Hendra Pratama, Affan Afrixzal Gani, and Maulana Malik Yusuf, under the guidance of Dr. Radite P. A. Setiawan. The team leader, Tegar Nur Hidayat, expressed his gratitude, pride, and satisfaction in being able to apply their knowledge of agricultural science obtained from their classes to create an applicable technological device. The device presents itself as a solution to the decreasing quality and quantity of palm oil production due to manual harvesting techniques, done even with shovels on occasions. This manual technique can damage the oil palm fruit by increasing free fatty acids and contaminating it with sand, litter, and dirt. These factors would reduce the yield gained from Crude Palm Oil and will eventually influence the selling price. Tegar also explained that there will be further developments of the device in the future. Erbron-C has already owned a simple patent number. He continued to explain that real field tests have been conducted at PTPN VI, Jambi, and direct implementation was made by the field workers. At this stage, the device is being improved based on the field test results. Once the device has been revised and improved optimally, it will be mass produced.

This plan is strengthened by the obtained patent and the high need by oil palm plantations. Tegar and his team needs only one day with one manpower to make one Erbron-C device. This device has a compact design, with high capacity in harvesting oil palm fruits in a quick, effective, and clean manner, making the result free of contaminants. Besides this, the device is also equipped with an adjustable handle for easy use. Another positive addition to this device is its cheap production fee.