See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/338541391

Design and Fabrication of Battery Operated Forklift

Article  in  Journal Européen des Systèmes Automatisés · January 2020

DOI: 10.18280/jesa.520604

CITATIONS READS

0 3,517

6 authors, including:

Anil Sequeira Sachidananda Hassan

Manipal University, Dubai Manipal Academy of Higher Education Dubai Campus
12 PUBLICATIONS   22 CITATIONS    33 PUBLICATIONS   61 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Remote triggered Robotic arm View project

Analysis of spur gearing using finite element method View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Sachidananda Hassan on 12 January 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Journal Européen des Systèmes Automatisés
Vol. 52, No. 6, December, 2019, pp. 569-574
Journal homepage: http://iieta.org/journals/jesa

Design and Fabrication of Battery Operated Forklift

Anil A. Sequeira1, Saif Mohammed2, Avinash A. Kumar2, Muhammed Sameer2, Yousef A. Kareem2, Krishnamurthy H.
Sachidananda1*
1
School of Engineering and IT, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Dubai 345050, UAE
2
Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Dubai 345050, UAE

Corresponding Author Email: [email protected]

https://doi.org/10.18280/jesa.520604 ABSTRACT

Received: 22 June 2019 The Battery Operated fork lift is an improved version of lifting and carrying the load which
Accepted: 9 November 2019 needs to be transferred from one place to another. This advanced technology has brought a
new revolution in the mechanical industries and most commonly used in heavy Engineering
Keywords: companies. These forklift vehicles had revolutionized ware-housing practices used in the
battery operated, automatic, steering, middle of the 20th century. For a long time, semi- automatic type of material handing systems
four wheel being used. In semi automatic material handling, the system was manually controlled. The
design of forklift has revolutionized warehouse work and it is practicable for one person to
move hundreds of kilograms at once. These well maintained and safely operated forklift has
made lifting and transporting cargo items very easily. The main purpose of this paper is to
design and fabricate a forklift machine which is new and different from existing designs. This
designed forklift uses a rechargeable battery which means it is powered completely by
electricity. From the design of forklift, it can be concluded that this machine is capable of
lifting a load of 100 Kgs. The findings of this research show that the designed machine can be
used in small scale industries.

1. INTRODUCTION dynamic simulation and analysis for fork arm. They developed
a mathematical model based on simulation and analsysis and
Forklift is defined as an industrial truck which is capable of summarised the two types of lifting systems. Kumar et al. [6]
lifting hundreds of kilograms. Forklift is commonly used in has designed and developed a pneumatic operated forklift.
warehousing and manufacturing and it consists of two metal They designed the forks of a forklift using pneumatic powered
forks at the front of the vehicle in order to lift and transfer the cylinders in order to lift the load. Each fork was operated using
load. The way the load is lifted in case of forklift is in such a a separate cylinder. They concluded that there designed
way that the operator is going to move forward the vehicle forklift can be used in small scale industries and can lift pallet
until the two forks push under the cargo and then it is lifted by load of 60 Kgs. Pan et al. [7] have studied the structural
operating the forks [1]. Sometimes forks are also known as parameters in case of forklift. They designed the hydraulic
blades and made of steel and is capable to lift a few tons. systems and calculated the structural parameters of the oil
The power to operate the forklift are either given using cylinders using mathematical equations. They concluded that
gasoline or electricity [2]. Electric forklift depends on batteries lifting oil cylinders structural parameters have great
to operate as compared to Gasoline or propane forklifts. These significance to improve the working efficiency of the designed
gasoline or propane forklifts are much stronger or faster as system. Kim et al. [8] have studied hybrid propulsion system
compared to electric forklifts, but considered to be difficult to in case of forklift. They studied the torque, speed and
maintain, and it is also fuel efficient. Forklifts are specified as operating systems in case of hybrid propulsion system to
the maximum weight or forward center of gravity. Sachin et al. improve the fuel economy. They concluded using simulation
[3] have designed and developed robotic forklift to lift results in order to improve fuel economy using hybrid
palletized materials which is capable of handling outdoor propulsion system. Roskam [9] has studied the mechatronics
storage facilities. They designed this robotic forklift using systems in case of forklift. They studied the forklift
radio frequency technology in order to increase the visibility considering hydraulics as well as AC and DC drives and
and human safety. They concluded that the designed forklift embedded controller. They concluded that from the
can be operated from a distance of 15 meters. Wade and measurements it is possible to study the behavior of the lifting
Waghchore [4] has studied 3 wheel battery operated forklift. operation. Jagtap et al. [10] has studied and developed a
They developed an image module with remote technology for portable forklift for handling materials in industries which is
better visibility and safety of operator. They concluded that the commonly used in small industries. They concluded that the
designed and developed system is working satisfactory as well remote controlled forklift is not only cost effective but will
as the power consumed by their designed machine is less as increase productivity. Kumar et al. [11] has designed and
compared to other machines. Wang et al. [5] has studied and fabricated mini forklift using pulley based mechanism. They
designed electric elevating mechanism for lifting the used 4 motors in order to control the forklift in four directions.
equipment using forklift based principle. They have done the They used wi-fi based technology to run this forklift. They

569
concluded that the prototype model they developed is cost movement. Also, from the research review it is known that
effective. Abdellatif et al. [12] has designed and developed an maximum amount of power is required and is wasted during
autonomous forklift. They developed a robot to perceive 3 lifting a load or heavy material. So, based on above limitations,
dimensional movement in order to lift the material from one in this research work we made an attempt to design and
place to the other place. They concluded that robot based fabricate forklift which was based on rechargeable battery.
forklift can lift load from the source and load it to the target From this research findings it is possible to use rechargeable
locations. Vaidya et al. [13] has designed and developed pedal battery in case of forklift design.
operated forklift in order to transport medium load weights fast In this research work design and fabrication of the forklift,
and efficient way and consuming low power and lesser space. the section 2 discusses about methodology and the section 3
They concluded that the efficiency of this forklift is good and discusses about component selection followed by results and
much more capable in handling material as compared to bare discussions, conclusion and references.
hand. Salunke et al. [14] has designed hydraulic forklift circuit
design using simulation software to study power steering and
cylinders. They tested using static and dynamic loads the 2. METHODOLOGY
power steering systems and cylinders. They concluded that the
design is safe to implement under working conditions. Shen et The methodology used for the design and fabrication of
al. [15] has studied optimal steering system in case of forklift. forklift is as follows. A total load of 100 Kgs is considered as
According to the study the reciprocating unbalance and gas the lift during the working process. The driving force was
pressure torque are the main source of vibration in case of given by a single motor of 500 rpm, 36 W. This motor was
forklift. They concluded by giving design guide lines. selected based on efficiency of the motor which is calculated
Based on the above literature review, it is observed that as mechanical output power divided by electrical input power.
many researchers have worked on design and fabrication of The efficiency of the motor for calculations was considered as
forklift commonly used in industries. Some researchers also 10% and output mechanical power is calculated considering
worked on steering systems, cylinders as well as software the input electrical motor power as 0.22 A × 12 V which is
analysis of the different components of forklift systems. The equal to 2.64 W. So, based on above electric motor power the
major accidents in case of forklift is happening due to poor output mechanical power was calculated considering 500 rpm
visibility and human errors and hence in order to solve these of the motor along with angular velocity and was estimated to
issues, some researcher have designed remote controlled as be about 0.263 W. In order to power the motor and winch 2
well as web-cam sensors which mainly focuses over the safety car lithium ion batteries, each of 12 V being used. The circuit
of the operator as well as surrounding environment. Also, block diagram of forklift is as shown in Figure 1. The
many researchers have worked on the ergonomically comfort components specifications is as shown in Table 1.
position of the operator and also to reduce time for up/down

Figure 1. Circuit layout block diagram of forklift

Table 1. The components specifications the chassis, it gives maximum protection and helps to maintain
the forklift portable as well as light weight.
Sl. No Components Quantity
1 D C motor, 500 W, 36 V 1
2 Lithium ion batteries, 12 V, 12 Ah 2
3 Steel frame 83” × 21” × 45” 1
4 Motor Controllers 36 V 2

3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

The main base frame of this forklift designed is the chassis,

it incorporates all other components of the electric forklift.
Hence, chassis is considered as the structural skeleton of this
machine. The chassis in the forklift design is considered to be
important and is manufactured using from ERW steel bar
(Refer Figure 2). As all the other components are placed inside Figure 2. Chassis of forklift

570
3.1 Drive train the machine on or off. (Refer Figure 4). The power to the drive
wheel is provided by the motor which in turn is connected to
The drive train is one of the most important system in the the rear wheel using gearing arrangement. This machine is also
forklift as it allows the vehicle to move from one place to other. equipped with an emergency switch in which it is possible to
The driver is going to steer the front wheel in the desired cutoff the power. This emergency switch is also located in the
direction whereas the power to the forklift is given to the rear control system designed for this forklift machine.
wheel which is powered by the battery. The drive train of this
forklift consists of many components in order to drive the 3.4 Steering system
driving wheels and also it converts electrical energy into
mechanical energy. The energy from the drive train is Since the machine designed is for 4 wheel forklift, the major
consisting of a reduction drive in order to convert speed into focus of the research work is on steering systems (Refer Figure
torque. The output of the reduction drive is supplied to the 5). The steering mechanism consists of differential so that the
wheels of the forklift for movement. designed vehicle can smoothly run while taking turns. The
steering system designed in this forklift machine consists of
3.2 Power supply steering wheel and consists of gears, linkages and the cables
connected to the drive wheel assemblies and hence requires
This forklift machine consists of rechargeable battery and proper maintenance.
the charging unit as shown in Figure 3. Also, it is known that
power supply available is 230 V AC. These batteries act as
power source for driving the forklift. A battery capacity of 12
V, 38 AH which is capable to run for 20 hrs have been used
and the designed forklift consists of 2 batteries. This machine
is equipped with electric circuit in order to convert AC into
DC and to charge the batteries. The provision for charging the
battery have been provided in such a way that it can be plugged
into AC supply during recharging.

Figure 5. Steering system

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Numerical analysis

VOLUME

Fork has a side plate at its base. As there are two forks the
Figure 3. Rechargeable battery volume of which will be 1200 cm3. So, total volume of base
will be 2400 cm3.
V= 2 (l×b×t)
= 2 (82×10.5×0.7)
= 1205 cm3
The upper body of the forklift has total 4 plates welded
together.
Front plate = (L×H×T) = (64×27×0.7) = 1200 cm3
Upper plate = (35×18×0.7) = 440 cm3
2 side plates= 2 (27×18×0.7) = 340 cm3
Total volume of body above the fork = 1200＋440＋340=
1980 cm3.
The total volume of the forklift handle
Long Hollow Handle = P/4 (do2-di2) × L
=P/4(32-2.32) ×90 = 260 cm2
Figure 4. Control panel of forklift Gripping Handle = 70 cm3
Total Volume = 2400+2000+250 =4650 cm3
In order to determine the power of the batteries. Assuming
3.3 Control system the system is 100% efficient, (i.e. no resistive losses in cables,
or internal resistance from battery)
The control system is used in order to move the vehicle front Power (Watts) = I (Amps) * V(Voltage)
or back as well as to right and left. This helps to navigate the = 150A * 12V
vehicle in different directions. It also facilitates the switching = 1800 Watts

571
 In order to determine the torque, the maximum torque is safe from the deformation point of view.
calculated when forklift starts
T=0.05*1500*10*0.17/2 = 63.75 N-m.
According to the demand speed of 2.5 − 3 km/h, the wheel
speed is calculated as:
n=50v/3πd = 78-93 rev/min
The testing was done for determining the load that can be
carried by the forklift. The result analysis shows that the
vehicle can carry up to 100 kgs and it can run up to 9-10 hrs
with a fully charged battery.

Figure 8. Deformation at 100 Kg

4.2 Stability analysis

In the stability analysis, analysis tools being used is to

ensure that the forklift meets the safety requirements of its
operations. The mass property calculations tool is used which
gives us the volume, mass, centre of mass, principal moments,
axes of inertia and other properties of the model. The above
Figure 6. Isometric view of the fork properties of the model are calculated by assigning material
properties to each individual component as each having its
own function and performance. Also, the mass properties for
both the fork have been calculated in order to ensure safety for
the operator during its lifting as well as placing movement. In
order to ensure safety of the forklift under static condition, the
forklift is usually designed so that center of gravity will remain
within the zone of the triangle as referred in the text [16] and
has been checked in our design for stability in the forklift. We
also performed those measurements to ensure the stability of
our forklift under resting and loading conditions.

4.3 Mass property calculations

Before using the design tools, it is required to calculate the

mass properties of the model and assign material properties to
every individual component. Each part would use a different
material when manufactured due to its own function in the
Figure 7. Pressure on the fork entire system. After that, the mass and centre of gravity of the
forklift is been computed followed by FEM analysis. Also, the
Figure 6 and 7 shows the isometric view and pressure on the design of forklift based on analysis shows that the deformation
fork. There are two forks installed in front of the support frame and average stress (Static structural) were within the limits and
and the support frame is attached to the fork lid thought a pillar hence it is safe. Counterweight plays a very important
which is rotatable to provide the lifting fork system with a component of the forklift. It is the part that makes sure the
rotation movement. There are two axles connecting the fork forklift can maintain its balance while working. So, the battery
support frame with its two motors and rack fixer. One motor is installed in the place of the counterweight.
lifts the fork lid and the other one (rack motor) moves the
whole system horizontally. The down rack fixer connects the 4.4 Forks stress analysis
fork lid with operator cabin, to make sure the entire system is
stable in front of the truck. Figure 8 shows the deformation for This section covers both the static and dynamic (fatigue)
a load of 100 Kg. From this it is observed that the deformation analysis of the forks. For the static analysis, it is already known
is maximum at the end of the fork. From this figure it can be that the maximum loading capacity of this forklift is 100 Kg.
stated that the maximum deformation at the end of the forklift There are two forks and the structure is symmetrical, so each
is 0.00115 m whereas the portion which is supporting the one of them carries half of the force, which is approximately
forklift is having a maximum deformation of 0.000128m. 500 N. Figure 9 shows the equivalent strain of the fork. From
From this analysis it can be concluded that the forklift design this figure it is observed that the maximum deformation is 5.89
×10-5. From this it is observed that the maximum deformation

572
is within the safety consideration. Figure 10 shows the load without compromising the performance of the forklift.
equivalent stress (Von-Mises) of the fork and from this it is This occurs due to insufficient torque exerted by the motor as
observed that the maximum stress is 11.7 MPa. the load increases above 70 Kgs. Figure 13 shows the force
versus acceleration diagram and from this it is observed that
as the force increases, acceleration also increases up to a force
of 12 N.

Figure 12. Load versus force

Figure 9. Equivalent strain of the fork

Figure 13. Force versus acceleration

5. CONCLUSIONS

In this research work, design and fabrication of forklift have

been studied. From this research paper the following
Figure 10. Equivalent stress of the fork conclusions have been drawn.
1. The designed forklift has the ability to carry a maximum
load of 100 Kg.
2. The forklift designed works on a rechargeable battery and
it works continuously for 8 to 10 hours when once it is
charged.
3. From the analysis it can be concluded that the designed
forklift is able to with stand the load and is economical,
reliable and environmentally friendly.
4. The specifications of the motor driving the forklift is
calculated based on desired load and acceleration to be
achieved.
5. From this research it can be stated that the forklift has
Figure 11. Load versus acceleration been successfully designed and fabricated and a prototype
model have been developed.
The load weight, load distribution size and shape of the 6. The scope for the further research includes research on
forklift plays an important role during the movement of the forklift’s weight change and stability during the turning
vehicle while in operation. So, in order to study the stability of and speeding process.
this vehicle in terms of velocity, acceleration a graph of load
versus acceleration, velocity and force have been plotted as
shown in Figures 11-13. From Figure 11 it is observed that as REFERENCES
the load on the forklift increases from 0 to 100 kg, the
acceleration initially remains constant and then decreases as [1] Panara, K.S., Mishra, V.R., Patel, A., Patel, T.B., Dhivar,
the load on the vehicle increases. Similarly, from Figure 12 it K.R. (2015). Construction of battery operated forklift.
is observed that the forklift can handle approximately 70 Kgs International Journal of Science Technology and

573
 Engineering, 2(4): 1-5. research and education in mechatronics. 2nd
[2] Allwyn, L.M., Karan, K.N., Ganesh, A.B., Prathamesh, International Conference on Mechatronics Systems and
B.G., Omkar, K.S., Abhijeet, N.N. (2018). Design and Control Engineering, 21-23: 17-21.
development of mechanical forklift. International https://doi.org/10.1145/3185066.3185070
Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 5(3): [10] Jagtap, K.S., Londhe, S.D., Khujat, S.M., Koli, P.S.,
1125-1136. Desai, A.A. (2018). Design and fabrication of battery
[3] Sachin, U.S., Tushar, S.S., Sachin, L.S., Prashant, K.R. operated remote controlled articulated forklift.
(2014). Design, development and modelling of forklift. International Journal of Advance Research in Science
International Journal of Engineering Research and and Technology, 7(1): 809-813.
Technology, 3(4): 1234-1238. [11] Kumar, K.S., Reddy, A.S., Reddy, G.S.K., Reddy, G.S.S.
[4] Wade, R.R., Waghchore, R.K. (2018). Battery operated (2018). Fabrication of mini forklift using Wi-Fi module.
3 wheel drive forklift for industrial warehouse. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative
International Journal for Scientific Research and Research, 5(9): 613-617.
Development, 5(12): 670-673. [12] Abdellatif, M., Shoeir, M., Talaat, O., Gabalah, M.,
[5] Wang, Y., Zhao, D.X., Wang, L., Zhang, Z.X., Wang, Elabably, M., Saleh, S. (2018), Design of an autonomous
L.L., Hu, Y.J. (2016). Dynamic simulation and analysis forklift using Kinect. MATEC Web of Conferences, 153:
of the elevating mechanism of a forklift based on a power 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201815304005
bond graph. Journal of Mechanical Science and [13] Vaidya, A., Rotliwala, K., Prajapati, M., Patel, N.,
Technology, 30: 4043-4048. Rajpurohit, R. (2016). Design of Pedal operated wheel
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-016-0817-y drive forklift. International Journal of Design and
[6] Kumar, N.K., Arun, M., Kumar, K.R. Sabiranathan, R., Manufacturing Technology, 9(1): 17-22.
Yuvaraj, K. (2015). Design and fabricated pneumatic [14] Salunke, G., Bell, P., Chore, S., Ghatol, C., Vaishnav, S.
operated forklift. International Journal of Engineering (2018). Designing of hydraulic forklift circuit in
Research and Science and Technology, 4(1): 291-296. automation studio using manufacturer’s catalogue.
[7] Pan, L., Du, Q.L., He, C.S. (2015). Design research on International Journal of Current Engineering and
hydraulic system of working device of a forklift. 5th Technology, 8(5): 1210-1219.
International Conference on Advanced Design and https://doi.org/10.14741/ijcet/v.8.5.3
Manufacturing Engineering ICADME (2015), pp. 1813- [15] Shen, Y., Chu, B. Liu, D.C., Zhu, C.A. (2015).
1817. Optimization of steering system of forklift vehicle for
[8] Kim, S., Choi, S., Lee, J., Hong, S., Yoon, J. (2013). A idle performance. Mathematical Problems in
study of hybrid propulsion system on forklift trucks. Engineering, Hindawi, 2015: 1-9.
2013 World Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition, http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/313182
IEEE, Barcelona, Spain. [16] Yuru, S., Ibrahim, Z. (2015). Design and analysis of new
https://doi.org/10.1109/EVS.2013.6914737 flexible and safe forklifts. Thesis, North Eastern
[9] Roskam, R. (2018). Development of a forklift for University, Boston.

574

View publication stats