More than 50% of harvest workers suffer from Musculoskeletal Disorders
Porter is a cart that helps workers adapt to a tomato greenhouse environment by improving their posture during long work hours.
This is because as plants grow throughout the harvest season, workers have to hold bad postures for long periods of time.
The way Porter helps is by reducing stress in the torso.
In order to do that, the design is divided in 4 parts.
Frame
Seat
Handle
Wheels
These 4 parts have the objective to keep the torso in a more natural position while working.
Its fabrication plays an important role, since it not only has to work well, but also be affordable to farmers.
That is why the design is constructed with mild steel tubes and simple mechanisms to reduce the amount of parts.
Working together with an agricultural company in Spain,
we studied the problem and tested multiple ideas.
Promising ideas were then developed and tested.
There are 4 prototypes being tested during the 2020 harvest, and Porter's new model is ready to be made.
