This is the first time Vietnam has a silk machine from a lotus tree

A group of students from Hanoi University of Science and Technology successfully fabricated an automatic lotus machine, the productivity tripled compared to manual.

Lotus silk is used to weave silk. In Vietnam, silk products from lotus silk are exported to many countries in the world, bringing economic value but the stages of selecting, arranging lotus stems to silk thread, are all done manually. Realizing the potential of applying technology in lotus weaving, Ngo Tran Minh Duc, Nguyen Van Thang, Tran Quoc Dat, Cao Anh Tu and Luong Duc Trung (fourth year students, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering - Manufacturing) ) came up with an idea to build a lotus extractor to improve productivity. From mid-October 2019, the team started to manufacture, model machines and assign, people in charge of programming, designing electronic circuits, people in charge of designing and assembling.

Tractor of silk lotus.(Photo: NVCC).

Nguyen Van Thang said that the most difficult and important stage in the fabrication process is to supply the embryos, creating absolute precision for the machine. Because each lotus body has a different size, it is required that the machine must deliver the correct workpiece to achieve the highest rate of torque. This is the most important stage and many times the group disagrees because each person has different ideas. After much debate, the group finally came to an agreement to build a lotus machine with three main clusters.

The first cluster has the function of clamping and positioning the lotus body, and also passes through the blade to make a cut on the lotus stem. The second cluster has the function of twisting silk. The third cluster will thread to connect the small strands together into a complete thread. All stages are assembled and operated automatically.

Tested, the machine processed from 600 to 650 lotus stems per day, three times the number of lotus stems compared to manual, elongated and thicker. Machine can replace 3-4 workers. The team is confident that it can bring the product to market because "this is the first product in Vietnam," Germany said. The entire machine manufacturing cost is about 40 million VND, the manufacturing time is two months.

To meet the commercial needs, the team said next time it will continue to perfect the automatic embryo feeding system to suit all sizes of lotus stems. In addition, the reeling unit will be improved to produce more yarn. When the product is ready for sale, the team will reach out to manufacturing units and businesses wishing to commercialize the product.

Normally, to produce a two meter long scarf, it takes nearly 5,000 lotus stems, while a skilled worker only makes about 250 lotus stems per day. So it takes at least two months to weave lotus into a product, leading to high prices, difficult to reach users. With the automation of silk production, it will reduce the time to make a silk scarf, reducing the price of products.

At the competition "Creative young Bach Khoa 2019" recently held at the end of December 2019, the topic of manufacturing lotus silk machine of the research team won first prize.