CRATE

Monica Bhyrappa - Rhode Island School of Design

the brief that have been assigned to you

Sviluppare una nuova cassetta per il trasporto della frutta, basata sulle tradizionali cassette in plastica utilizzate dai contadini in Italia. In particolare, servirà a supportare la raccolta delle olive nelle colline dell’Emilia-Romagna, scoscese e ripide. Dovrà essere impilabile, leggera, ergonomica, e con materiali riciclabili e/o riciclati. Inoltre, dovrà incentivare l’inclusione nel mondo dell’agricoltura.

Persona profile

Antonio Bianchi

Age: 28

Role: Olive Harvesting Specialist

Company: Rossi family's olive farm

Location: Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Company and Products: The Rossi family business, Rossi Olive Oil, has been producing high-quality olive oil for generations. They are dedicated to using traditional methods combined with modern techniques to create artisanal olive oil products. In addition to their flagship extra virgin olive oil, the company also produces flavored olive oils infused with herbs, spices, and citrus fruits, as well as a range of olive-based skincare products, like soaps and moisturizers.

Midjourney prompt: An Italian olive harvesting specialist named Antonio Bianchi, 28 years old, photorealistic image, collecting olives manually on the farm using a crate in Emilia-Romagna

An Italian olive harvesting specialist named Antonio Bianchi, 28 years old, photorealistic image, collecting olives manually on the farm using a crate in the steep and hilly terrain of Emilia-Romagna

Background

Responsibilities

Values and Interests

Antonio Bianchi was born in a small village near the Rossi family's olive farm in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. After finishing high school, Antonio started working at the Rossi farm as a seasonal employee during the olive harvest. Over the years, he has become a full-time employee and has honed his skills in hand-picking olives and using crates to collect and transport the olives.

Antonio's primary responsibility at the Rossi farm is to manually harvest olives using crates. He is highly skilled at hand-picking olives without damaging them, ensuring the highest quality fruit for the production of olive oil. He also trains and supervises other seasonal workers during the harvest season.

Antonio takes pride in his work at the Rossi family farm and is dedicated to upholding the tradition of hand-picking olives to ensure the highest quality olive oil. He appreciates the craftsmanship and attention to detail involved in the process and enjoys working closely with the Rossi family. In his free time, Antonio enjoys hiking in the Tuscan countryside, learning about the region's rich history, and spending time with his friends and family.

Advantages of using crates

Lightweight and easy to handle: Antonio finds that the crates are lightweight and easy to handle, allowing him to move efficiently from one tree to another.
Adequate capacity: The crates have enough capacity to hold a substantial amount of olives without being too heavy or cumbersome for Antonio and other workers to carry.
Ventilation: The crates used on the farm are designed with proper ventilation, which helps maintain the freshness of the olives and prevent spoilage during the harvesting process.
Stackable design: The crates can be easily stacked, making it convenient for Antonio to organize them in the field and during transportation.

Disadvantages of using crates

Potential damage to olives: Antonio must be careful not to overfill the crates, as the weight of the olives at the top can crush or bruise the ones at the bottom, affecting the quality of the olive oil.
Handling challenges: Carrying heavy crates filled with olives can be physically demanding, leading to fatigue and potential injuries if not handled with proper techniques.
Limited storage space: Storing and organizing crates can be challenging, particularly for small-scale farms with limited storage facilities.

Feedbacks

Great work!

Mi piace come Midjourney ha interpretato la persona da te descritta. Sembra proprio un contadino romagnolo! Nella prima immagine sono molto fedeli alla realtà sia la cassetta della frutta che le olive, molto simili a quelle di fianco a casa mia! Nella seconda e nella terza immagine il raccolto non è ben definito. Nella terza immagine il paesaggio collinare è molto fedele alla realtà, così come la cassetta di raccolta che è artigianale. Spesso infatti si utilizzano anche questo tipo di cassette arrangiate.

Ti consiglio di approfondire tramite chat gpt il metodo di raccolta delle olive più in generale, che comprende l'uso di diversi strumenti e una rete dove cadono le olive che sono poi rovesciate nelle cassette.

Le cassette per le olive sono un prodotto standardizzato, quindi è difficile innovare la forma o le caratteristiche dell'oggetto. Spesso però sono taglienti se usate senza guanti e servono solo a contenere le olive per il trasporto dal campo al frantoio. Molte persone ad esempio affittano le cassette per il periodo della raccolta.

Il fatto che le cassette siano di dimensioni limitate è dovuto al loro peso, che diventerebbe eccessivo. (Il limite sollevabile da un operaio in italia sono 25 Kg).

Le cassette se disposte su un terreno scosceso tendono a scivolare, così come sono scivolose le reti per la raccolta delle olive.

La raccolta delle olive è un momento in cui tutta la famiglia si riunisce per passare un pò di tempo insieme. E' un bel momento di comunità. Infatti le olive possono essere staccate dall'albero in due modi: manualmente con un piccolo rastrello in plastica (bacchiatura) oppure con degli scuotitori meccanici. Questo potrebbe essere un buon spunto per pensare a un prodotto che aumenti l'inclusione nel processo di raccolta delle olive

Sarebbe interessante indirizzare il progetto verso una dimensione tecnologica, in quanto le cassette utilizzate per la raccolta delle olive sono le stesse utilizzate per la raccolta della frutta (albicocche, pesche, uva, kiwi), che presenta molti più problemi delle olive.

La cassetta è dunque un oggetto multifunzione, che potrebbe diventare un sistema-prodotto che supporta i processi successivi alla raccolta: trasporto, stoccaggio, refrigerazione, vendita, relazione con l'utente finale).

Concept

Thank you for the valuable feedback! It gave me better clarity on the process of harvesting and more insights on the issues.

Looking at the challenges and the feedback you have provided, here are some of the objectives that we should consider for the design deliverable.

Olive-friendly material - Considering how the crate’s strength creates an advantage for stackability, it also crushes, injures and damages the olives. A material that is not so rigid to hurt them but can hold much weight should be considered.
Ergonomic- friendly - The design must be easy to hold and carry with and without the weight of the olives since these are transported by hand mostly from harvesting to the market.
Weight indicator - Realising only a certain weight can be carried, there should be some sort of indicator to prevent a collection of olives in the crate.
Should not slide - The context being a hilly region, it is better to keep the crate from sliding off
Stackable, Ventilated, lightweight, should be able to sustain weight

Opportunity areas

Biomaterial

I was curious to know the by-products or waste produced while producing olive oil and chatGPT mentioned a few namely olive pomace and olive pits. Can we incorporate these components to create a material that can be used as base material for the crates?

My cultural influence

Something that is not comparable but similar to these olive harvesting in India is tea leaf harvesting. These also happen in the hilly regions of India and the collection is manual hand-picking. The workers wear these weaved baskets made of dry palm leaves and have straps, making it a backpack. Can we maybe try a weaved box-like crate or basket that is stackable? Maybe the weaving is done in-house as part of the family tradition?

Concept 1

Weaved baskets that are 3/4th filled with fresh green olives. The top 3 horizontal strips of baskets are black in colour. The frames of the baskets are lined with metal wire or plates. They are placed on the ground. A few of the baskets are stacked on top of each other. The background is the olive farm in hilly areas of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Bright morning. DSLR photo --v 5

What if we could have Weaved baskets made from bio materials using the byproducts of olive oil production?

We can use the powder form of olive pits and pomace, compress them or add components(have to research but definitely eco-friendly) to create sheet-like material.
After processing, the material can be cut into long wide strips and weaved quickly manually. I prefer weaved to solid moulded containers because, weaved structures are more sturdy and strong in both the x and y axis. They provide proper ventilation for the olives. They are also soft enough to not damage the olives while harvesting. I find this concept quite successful while considering the objectives of the deliverable.
The frames of the baskets are lined with metal wire or plates so they can sustain weight and is stackable. The form of the basket can be stackable in a way. It could be a box weave but also cylindrical. and tapered.
To show a filling indication, a visual indicator would be helpful. Dyeing the horizontal weaves in a different colour can indicate the level of filling to restrict the overweight. If the original colour is dark, we could dye the upper part of the horizontal strips (no-fill part) black.
This concept brings creates an ecosystem within the farm, reduces the usage of plastic crates which are harmful to the environment and encourages recycling of by-products that are often discarded.

The feedback is given for Concept 1

The beauty of harvesting olives in a family business is that it's considered a tradition. The family gathers together and executes the task and bonds together while doing it. The previous concept shows it as an individual activity.
Along with the olives, there are some olive leaves that are present in the basket.
Integrating the technological perspective would be interesting. Till now it is purely untouched and has been done this way for generations. A twist with tech components would solve some problems and could also bring new opportunity areas.
Making it more convenient for stacking

(chaos prompt) a weaved basket with a slightly tapered bottom. There is a ridge on the top opening which helps with stacking. there is a LED display on the side displaying 5kg. The basket is 3/4th filled with fresh olives and leaves. The top 3 horizontal strips of baskets are black in colour. The background is the olive farm in hilly areas of Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

Concept 2 (post feedback)

The main objective of this concept was to improve the stackability of the baskets. The material remains the same. We can use the powder form of olive pits and pomace, compress them or add components(have to research but definitely eco-friendly) to create sheet-like material. After processing, the material can be cut into long wide strips and weaved quickly manually. I prefer weaved to solid moulded containers because weaved structures are sturdy and strong on both the x and y-axis. They provide proper ventilation for the olives. They are also soft enough to not damage the olives while harvesting.

I played around the tapering part of the basket and how it wouldn't insert into another basket beyond a point. I also thought we could incorporate a ridge in the basket top which would stop the basket from squishing the olives. The ridge would also help in providing a proper surface to place the top basket.

Concept 3

The previous concept lacked many feedback inputs.

Harvesting as a family - This concept integrates the family tradition concept and the basket can't be lifted without the help of another person. Although it can be held by an individual, holding as a couple would make it easier where each handle is held by one on either side and the other 2 hands for collecting the olives.

Ergonomic handle - The basket has a wider opening to make it easy for collecting and 2 handles that are ergonomic to hold for a longer duration with heavyweight.

Weighing scale sensor - A weight sensor is embedded in the bottom of the basket that helps in monitoring the number of olives in the basket and notify if there is an overload. It is connected to an LED display in the front that visually shows the weight.

<-- Image prompt - feeding the above image in the prompt and asking to add a small screen in the centre showing "500g"

I tried asking chatGPT to write the mid-journey prompt for this product.

Capture a charming moment of an Italian man and woman working together, as they both hold onto the same large, woven basket with an LED display showing the weight of their harvest. The pair is picking olives by hand in the idyllic hills of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. This back shot on a bright, sunny morning highlights their collaboration as they share the task of carrying the half-filled basket, with each person holding one side of the handle. DSLR photo --ar 4:3

Capture a charming moment of an Italian man and woman working together, as they both hold onto one large, woven basket with an LED display showing the weight of their harvest. The pair is picking olives by hand in the idyllic hills of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. This back shot on a bright, sunny morning highlights their collaboration as they share the task of carrying the half-filled basket with fresh olives and leaves, with each person holding one side of the handle of a big basket. There is only one basket in the picture. DSLR photo --ar 4:3

https://s.mj.run/fQbxhFTYD4s Add 2 children in the background, 2 men, one woman, 1 nonna, 1 Nonno, hyper-realistic DSLR photo --iw 2 --v 5

https://s.mj.run/fQbxhFTYD4s add 4 children in the background, 1 man, one woman, 1 nonna, DSLR photo --iw 2 --v 5 (Although the prompt contains men, only women present)

https://s.mj.run/fQbxhFTYD4s add 4 children in the background, 1 man, one woman, 1 nonna, DSLR photo --iw 2 --v 5 (inclusion of different religion)

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