The basic assumptions of this work follow the physical
model and the respective mathematical analysis developed
by Nahir (1978) for computing the conveying velocity of
resilient fruits on a vibrating surface. According to this
analysis we assume that the macadamia nut behaves as a
resilient fruit. We further assume that under different
conditions created with a proper selection of the vibratory
feeder parameters, the nut kernels and shells (and their
respective fragments) would behave differently when
handled on a vibratory feeder. It was anticipated that these
differences would be sufficiently significant to enable
separation while moving on a vibrating feeder.