Thailand 4.0: Machine mimics vendor-sliced papaya
A technician at Ubon Ratchathani University has invented a machine that mimics the way somtam vendors manually slice papaya.
Samak Intha, a technician of the Mechanical Engineering Department of the university’s Faculty of Engineering, said he likes to eat somtam and so was motivated to apply his technical knowledge to invent the machine.
He said the machine-sliced papaya pieces will be of various sizes, such as those chopped by hand, but done faster because the machine can slice about one kilogram per minute, or 60 kgs per hour.
He said vendors simply have to peel off the skin, remove the seeds, and put the papaya into the machine. The machine has a blade that is connected to shaft that is, in turn, rotated by a motor. The result is sliced papaya that matches those chopped by hands, Samak says.
Samak said his project was supported by the Science Park project of the Ubon Ratchathani University. On August 10, it won a Bt100,000 grant from the Startup Thailand League.
He said his invention would support the government’s Thailand 4.0 ambition.
