Development and evaluation of a low-cost precision seeding control system for a corn drill
Keywords:
precision seeding, corn drill, control system, travelling speed, in-row spacingAbstract
Precision seeding requires that the corn drill drop seeds into the soil by a specific in-row spacing while its travelling speed fluctuates due to unevenness of the field ground. This paper presents a low-cost precision seeding control system for a conventional corn drill with mechanical metering devices of finger-pickup type. A median filtering method was implemented in the control system to process measurements from a rotary encoder in order to acquire stable values of the corn drill travelling speed. The metering unit was driven by an electric motor controlled by the metering ECU according to the actual travelling speed and the desired in-row spacing in real-time. A user interface was programmed to communicate with ECUs for configuring parameters and displaying operating information during working. The newly-developed precision seeding control system was first calibrated in terms of speed measurement and control for two ECUs. Experiments were conducted on a seeding test platform in the laboratory for evaluating its accuracy in dropping seeds by giving different in-row spacing under different travelling speeds of the conveyor sticky belt. Results showed that the average spacing error was less than 2 cm and the maximum RMS error was 0.78 cm for all spacing values including 25 cm, 30 cm and 35 cm under the travelling speed of 1.0-8.0 km/h. These indicated that the low-cost precision seeding control system worked in a both accurate and stable way. Keywords: precision seeding, corn drill, control system, travelling speed, in-row spacing DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20181105.3369 Citation: Yin X, Noguchi N, Yang T X, Jin C Q. Development and evaluation of a low-cost precision seeding control system for a corn drill. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2018; 11(5): 95–99.References
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[2] Maleki M R, Ramon H, de Baerdemaeker J, Mouazen A M. A study on the time response of a soil sensor-based variable rate granular fertilizer applicator. Biosystems Engineering, 2008; 100: 160–166.
[3] Basso B, Dumont B, Cammarano D, Pezzuolo A, Marinello F, Sartori L. Environmental and economic benefits of variable rate nitrogen fertilization in a nitrate vulnerable zone. Science of the Total Environment, 2016; 545–546: 227–235.
[4] Vleugels T, Rijckaert G, Gislum R. Seed yield response to N fertilization and potential of proximal sensing in Italian ryegrass seed crops. Field Crops Research, 2017; 211: 37–47.
[5] Reyes J F, Esquivel W, Cifuentes D, Ortega R. Field testing of an automatic control system for variable rate fertilizer application. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2015; 113: 260–265.
[6] Moltó E, Martı́n B, Gutiérrez A. Design and testing of an automatic machine for spraying at a constant distance from the tree canopy. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research, 2000; 77(4): 379–384.
[7] Li X, Zhao H, Liu Y, Jiang H, Bian Y. Laser scanning based three dimensional measurement of vegetation canopy structure. Optics and Lasers in Engineering, 2014; 54: 152–158.
[8] Gil E, Llorens J, Llop J, Fàbregas X, Escolà A, Rosell-Polo J R. Variable rate sprayer. Part 2 – Vineyard prototype: Design, implementation, and validation. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2013; 95: 136–150.
[9] Llorens J, Gil E, Llop J, Escolà A. Variable rate dosing in precision
viticulture: Use of electronic devices to improve application efficiency. Crop Protection, 2010; 29: 239–248.
[10] Webster C, Westoby M, Rutter N, Jonas T. Three-dimensional thermal characterization of forest canopies using UAV photogrammetry. Remote Sensing of Environment, 2018; 209: 835–847.
[11] Pawlowski A, Guzmán J L, Sánchez-Hermosilla J, Rodríguez C, Dormido S. A low-cost embedded controller design for selective spraying vehicle. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 2017; 50(1): 5404–5409.
[12] Cai J, Wang X, Song J, Wang S, Yang S, Zhao C. Development of real-time laser-scanning system to detect tree canopy characteristics for variable-rate pesticide application. Int J of Agric & Biol Eng, 2017; 10(6): 155–163.
[13] Chattha H S, Zaman Q U, Chang Y K, Read S, Schumann A W, Brewster G R, et al. Variable rate spreader for real-time spot-application of granular fertilizer in wild blueberry. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2014; 100: 70–78.
[14] Jafari M, Hemmat A, Sadeghi M. Development and performance assessment of a DC electric variable-rate controller for use on grain drills. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2010; 73: 56–65.
[15] Kim Y J, Kim H J, Ryu K H, Rhee J Y. Fertiliser application performance of a variable-rate pneumatic granular applicator for rice production. Biosystems Engineering, 2008; 100: 498–510.
[16] Maleki M R, Mouazen A M, Ramon H, de Baerdemaeker J. Optimisation of soil VIS–NIR sensor-based variable rate application system of soil phosphorus. Soil and Tillage Research, 2007; 94(1): 239–250.
[17] Kühling I, Redozubov D, Broll G, Trautz D. Impact of tillage, seeding rate and seeding depth on soil moisture and dryland spring wheat yield in Western Siberia. Soil & Tillage Research, 2017; 170: 43–52.
[18] Snider J L, Raper R L, Schwab E B. The effect of row spacing and seeding rate on biomass production and plant stand characteristics of non-irrigated photoperiod-sensitive sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench). Industrial Crops and Products, 2012; 37: 527–535.
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Published
2018-09-29
How to Cite
Yin, X., Noguchi, N., Yang, T., & Jin, C. (2018). Development and evaluation of a low-cost precision seeding control system for a corn drill. International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 11(5), 95–99. Retrieved from https://ijabe.migration.pkpps03.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/ijabe/article/view/3369
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Power and Machinery Systems
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