INMATEH - Agricultural Engineering

9-18

Authors: Trokhaniak, V.I.; Rutylo, M.I.; Rogovskii, I.L.; Titova, L.L.; Luzan, O.R.; Bannyi, O.O.

Due to the range of indeterminate factors that influence energy consumption and quality indicators of the air medium while providing the necessary conditions for poultry management, the use of analytical methods for determining the patterns of heat-, mass- and energy-exchange processes happening there is not sufficient enough and additional experimental research is required. For that purpose, numerical simulation and experimental investigations on the performance of the environment support system in a typical broiler poultry house according to technological conditions have been conducted. In the course of the experiment, quality indicators of the air medium and the process energy performance have been determined.

27-32

Authors: Buryanov, Alexey; Chervyakov, Ivan

The application of grain harvesting technology, using the method of stripping plants at the root, allows increasing combines’ productivity and efficiency 1.4-2.0 times. As a result of tests which were held both in the fields and in a certain created laboratory setup, it was determined that the share of the heap, entering the straw walkers, will be increased 2.5 times if a gap between the longitudinal ribs of the deck is changed from 11.0 to 9.0 mm while shattering of grain level is preserved as acceptable.

41-48

Authors: Hevko, R.B.; Tkachenko, I.G.; Rogatynskyi, R.M.; Synii, S.V.; Flonts, I.V.; Pohrishchuk, B.V.

The results of theoretical and experimental study of design and kinematic parameters impact of an after-cleaning rod conveyor with variable path of root crops on their cleaning quality indices are presented in the article. The values of allowable inclination angle of the conveyor intake unit taking into account rod web vibrations have been substantiated in the theoretical part. The impact of inclination angles of the conveyor sections, its linear velocity and the path velocity of loading conveyor scrapers and manufacturing clearances between them on the root crop harvester qualitative characteristics has been determined in the experimental part.

59-68

Authors: ChengYang, Guo; Xiang, Zhao; Shuo, Zhang; Adilet, S.; Jun, Chen; BaoFeng, Su

To address issues wherein tractors easily cross boundaries during soil preparation, a cross-boundary model for front, side and any arbitrary boundary was proposed. Based on BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS), using John Deere Model 1204 tractor as the hardware platform and LabVIEW2018 as the software development platform, a hierarchical cross-boundary warning system of soil preparation was developed, and field tests under different boundary conditions were carried out. The test results show that the cross-boundary warning system for soil preparation proposed in this study had good judging and warning capacities for front, side and any arbitrary boundaries, with the tractor showing no cross-boundary behaviour during operation, suggesting the proposed system is stable and viable for application.

77-92

Authors: Maican, E.; Vlădut, V.; Vîlcu, C.; Sorică, C.; Dorian, M.; Mirea, D.P.; Bogăţeanu, R.;

In this paper a preliminary analysis of hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) able to generate at least 100 kW electric power is carried out. Restrictions on the installed power of small farms that are in isolated locations and cannot connect to NPS generally diminish productive activities and, implicitly, profit. Depending on the renewable energy resources (sun, wind, hydro) the characteristics of the isolated location of the work point, the optimal HRES system required for an efficient operation of the agricultural farm even under isolated conditions can be determined by the synthesis elaborated in this paper. Renewable energies that are characteristic to abiotic environment have been approached, describing the current technological methods of transforming them into electricity. Critical issues related to energy storage variants were also considered for periods of time when renewable sources are not sufficient to ensure the electricity consumption needs. The mathematical model of the process of generating electricity from renewable sources has been elaborated in order to perform the global energy calculation of the optimum hybrid system required for the isolated farm. These elements lead to the determination of the technical-economic indicator ζ €/kW of the HRES system in the management of the agricultural farm from the perspective of a sustainable agriculture that produces more with lower costs and in environmentally friendly conditions.

101-110

Authors: Hrushetsky, S.M.; Yaropud, V.M.; Duganets, V.I.; Duganets, V.I.; Pryshliak, V.M.; Kurylo, V.L.;

The problem of improving the quality of potato tuber separation by improving the digging working parts from the construction of potato harvesters is investigated. Based on the analysis of the theoretical and experimental studies on the existing working parts, the design scheme was established and the optimum values of the parameters and operation modes of the digging working parts were established, for potato harvesting machines, which would allow improving the quality performances of the potato harvester as a whole. According to the research results, an experimental sample of digging working parts for potato harvesting machines was developed and manufactured, whose verification in operation confirmed their workability and efficiency.

119-124

Authors: Găgeanu, I.; Cârdei, P.; Matache, M.; Voicu, Gh.;

The paper presents the main performances of formulas used in the literature in the field of compacting metallic, ceramic and pharmaceutical powders, in the case of applying them to biomass powders (fir tree sawdust). Because the authors have modified classic formulas in this field, the research of statistic modelling of the powder compaction process, it was normal to begin with functions of the same type as those presented in this paper. The performance of these formulas will constitute a comparison basis for any possible new formulas proposed. Through the modifications brought to formulas in the classic literature, formulas used in this material have an originality character and are subjected to validation for biomass powders in this paper.

133-140

Authors: Chen, P.L.; Xu, J.; Tang, Y.; Liu, M.H.;

In order to acquire the coupling mechanism of the paddy flow, hot air and far-infrared radiation, an experiment bench based on the screw conveyor and grain collecting tank of combine harvester was set up, and then the orthogonal experiment with six factors and five levels was conducted using the dehydration rate (DR), increased crack percentage (ICP) and specific energy consumption (SEC) as indexes. The optimal combination of factors for each index was acquired and the experiment results show: the drying combination could achieve rapid drying with good drying quality and low energy consumption; the initial water content of paddies is the dominant factor for the DR, ICP and SEC; the hot air has more effect on the drying performances compared with the IR radiation.

151-160

Authors: Poorvousooghi Gargari, Hassan ; Farrokhi Teimourlou, Rahman; Valizadeh, Morteza;

Nowadays, the indiscriminate use of pesticides for plant protection, has led to severe environmental pollution. This input accounts for a portion of the agricultural economy and should be sprayed in a way that has the highest biological efficacy and the least run-off. Therefore, real-time evaluation of spray characteristics and its classification is necessary. In the current research, a piezoelectric sensor was employed for detection of vibration signals from impaction of droplets to the active surface of the sensor. To supervised classification, the Support Vector Machine classifier as a Machine Learning model was implemented by means of extracted features from conditioned signals. By using a feature selection algorithm, six features were selected comprising mean, median, mode of signal peaks, root mean square, mean deviation and impulse factor of the signals. These features used as Support Vector Machine inputs. Model targets were spray droplet characteristics that were determined using image processing techniques on water sensitive papers. The results showed that the Linear and medium Gaussian models have the highest overall accuracy. Linear Support Vector Machine has higher accuracy and precision for training data (94.60% and 94.63%) and its model was able to predict with 92.59% accuracy. Precision of classifier model was higher than 92% for all classes. The highest miss rate of the model was approximately 15% in the separation of class C. Accurate and precise performance of linear classifier was confirmed by determining the Kappa coefficient of 0.77.

181-188

Authors: Aulin, V. V.; Pankov, A.O.; Zamota, T. M.; Lyashuk, O.L.; Hrynkiv, A.V., Tykhyi, A. A.; Kuzyk, A.V.

Existing control systems of sowing machines are intricate and not reliable enough. In these systems, devices are connected by a variety of signal and power wires. This leads to a "problem of interfaces" and a decrease in the efficiency of the control process. The solution to this problem is based on the mechatronic approach or combining elements and control units into mechatronic modules. They are characterized by reliability, compact design and lower cost. The improvement of functional and structural integration of the control system components by their integration into the mechatronic module is considered. The module of regulation of seeding rate on the basis of software and hardware platform Arduino is developed. The work of the proposed control system when changing the seeding rate in the seeding system is studied.

197-208

Authors: Hosseinzadeh J.; Mohhebi A.; Loni R.

This paper proposes the design and optical evaluation of a solar dish collector with changeable structure using TracePro software with native conditions of Iran for solar dryers. The designed dish concentrator has a diameter of 1.5m. TracePro's goal is to design and evaluate complex optical systems. Modeling a parabolic concentrator in TracePro can be achieved using several methods. All segments of dish collectors are made of glass (perfect parabolic mirror with a reflection coefficient of 95%). In the ray-tracing simulations, the two cavity receiver model (cylindrical and semi-sphere) is added to study the influence of physical parameters of the cavity. The simulation result shows that semi-spherical receiver is better and it has got better optical performance. Thereby it is highly recommended for various types of solar dryers such as direct drying (solar box dryer), or indirect drying (solar cabinet dryer).

219-226

Authors: Dmytriv, V.T.; Dmytriv, I.V.; Yatsunskyi, P.P.;

Factors affecting the milk ejection intensity and power consumption of the pulse generator combined with the milking machine collector have been analyzed. The main factors and limits of their variation, as well as the results of experimental studies are given. The matrices of a multivariate planned experimental study of a pulse generator with a combined collector (pneumatic-electromagnetic pulsator-collector) have been developed. According to the results of experimental studies, the coded and natural values of the regression equation are derived. The equations characterize the dependence of the milk ejection intensity on the pulsation frequency, the ratio between the strokes and the vacuum pressure in the under teats space of the teat cup. The dependence of the power consumption of the pulse generator on the pulse rate and the ratio between the strokes are derived. Graphical models of interpretation of regression dependencies according to the experimental data are constructed. Student's t-test, Fisher and Cochran criteria are calculated. These indicators show the adequacy and reproducibility of the models obtained during the studies using an experimental pulse generator combined with a milking machine collector.

237-244

Authors: Liang, X.C.; Zhao, J. D.;

The electric mini-tiller can produce extra vibration during tilling, shortening the span life of components and undermining manipulator’s body. Therefore, sensors are set in the electric motor and armrest, and field experiments under different conditions have been accomplished. Test data show that some of the vibration frequency bands of electric mini-tiller are sensitive to the human, imposing great harm on people’s health. So redesigning the electric one to lessen or cut off the vibration transmission is an urgent engineering problem.

253-262

Authors: Cardei, P.; Muraru, S.L.; Sfiru, R.; Muraru, V.;

The empirical and theoretical estimation of the draft force of agricultural machinery for soil tillage has been the target of scientific research for about one hundred years. The results obtained so far may seem contradictory or divergent. The article presents the results of some research on the usual calculation formulas of the draft force of agricultural machines for soil tillage. Although apparently these formulas are different, analyzing the structure of the formula, we find cohesion and coherence embodied in a simple generalization and easy to use both theoretically and experimentally. Moreover, the formulas are convertible between them, the two languages used for their definition (the mechanics of deformable solids and that of the phenomenological description), are only different forms of expression for the same phenomenon. Another problem that is addressed in the research whose results are presented in this article is that of highlighting the dependence of the draft force on the tool speed (in the field) of the soil tillage machine. Exposure is complemented by an algorithm that highlights the dependence of the draft force on the tillage tool speed. Also like a consequence of the draft tillage force structure, finally, a third problem addressed in these researches and whose results and perspectives are given in this paper is that of optimizing the working processes of agricultural machinery for soil tillage. The treatment of the problem starts from the hypothesis of the most general formula of the traction resistance force and proposes some ways to solve the optimal problem.

277-284

Authors: Wu Weibing

Agricultural automation and intelligence have a wide range of connotations, involving navigation, image, model, strategy and other engineering disciplines. With the development of modern agriculture, intelligent agricultural vehicles are applied in many engineering areas. The operating environment of agricultural vehicles is very complex, especially as they often face obstacles, affecting the intelligent operation of agricultural vehicles. The traditional obstacle detection mostly uses the limited detection algorithm, in the case of which it is difficult to achieve the moving target detection of panoramic vision. In this paper, mean shift algorithm is selected to detect the moving obstacles of intelligent agricultural vehicles, and adaptive colour fusion is introduced to optimize the algorithm to solve the problems of mean shift. In order to verify the effect of the improvement and application of the algorithm, the video image obtained by the intelligent agricultural vehicle is selected for the simulation experiment, and the best combination (- 0.8.0.2) is obtained for the unequal spacing sampling method. In the process of colour selection, the coefficient needs to be adjusted continuously to improve the tracking accuracy of the algorithm. Further it can be seen that when using a variety of different quantitative methods for comparative analysis, the quantitative method of HIS-360 level is determined.

9-16

Authors: Tolvaly-Roșca, F.; Pásztor, J.

Ensuring pyrotechnical conditions, as well soil preservation and protection are obtained by adjusting working parameters with appropriate fuel consumption. Efforts have been made to study the physical phenomena that occur during the work with active machinery, including the determination of cutting trajectories, shapes and dimensions of soil slices. A stated purpose of numerous studies is to track not only the economic aspects, but also the environmental aspects of burning fossil fuels. The paper proposes a CAD approach to study the geometrical dimensions that characterize the minimum tillage, their connections to the kinematic parameters, and highlights the connection between the specific cutting surface and the energy consumption.

27-36

Authors: Cerempei, V.; Molotcov, Iu.

There are presented the results of the bibliographical and theoretical research of the methods of liquid substances dosage. Based on the research were elaborated the method and continuing dosage installation of multicomponent mixtures to obtain liquid biofuel of high quality and minimum cost. In the proposed "Biomixt" installation the liquids flow is provided by the pressure reduction (suction) at the pump inlet. The theoretical analysis and experimental research of the installation allowed the justification of hydrodynamic parameters (cross-sectional area S of the pipes, pressure difference delta р, type of fluid flow Re>10000), that provides the needed ratio of the components with the error delta<0.5%.

45-56

Authors: Golub G.A., Chuba V.V., Marus O.A.

It was developed the mathematical model of Machine-tractor unit (MTU) work dynamics based on the analysis of the forces acting at ploughing works. The model reflects the relationship between the operational and structural parameters of the MTU and the properties of the agro-technological environment and the type of fuel that is used. Modeling allows selecting the rational composition of the MTU and predicting the effective performance of its operation modes, depending on the parameters of the agro-technological environment and the type of fuel.

63-74

Authors: Dorokhov, A.S.; Sibirev, A.V.; Aksenov, A.G.

The tasks of designing complex dynamic systems (an agricultural machine, a car, a metalworking machine) are always multi-criteria, since choosing a reliable option needs taking into account many various requirements for the technical systems. The methodologies and methods of dynamic systems research are currently improving due to the need in developing a functional component that takes into account the unlimited possibilities of computers, in some cases changing over to “virtual reality”. The purpose of the study is to reveal the essence of a promising heuristic approach to the assessment of functional relationships between the functioning elements of dynamic systems and variables describing the state of a given system. Technological production processes can be considered as a dynamic system containing resistance forces. In dynamic systems (machines), a transitory phenomenon occurs when starting and stopping, when switching from one mode to another, as well as when resetting or increasing the working load. In many cases, when studying transitory phenomena in dynamic systems, it is convenient to use not the classical method of integrating differential motion equations, but an operational calculus based on a promising area of applied mathematics – artificial neural networks, and one of the promising methods for the development and design of various dynamic systems is simulation by artificial neural networks. The technological process model for onion harvesting machines presented by artificial neural networks is able to assess the qualitative indicators, separate functioning elements of the cleaning machine performance out of input factors with different physical nature, while further research is based on previous model constructions. The methodology for modeling working processes of dynamic systems by using artificial neural networks in the form of reality objects significantly expands the opportunities for arrangement and reuse of the results obtained, makes it possible to use the analytical apparatus of the information theory (message transmission in the presence of interference) for searching and optimizing the design and operating parameters of the machines under development.

83-92

Authors: Liu Peng, Zhang Zhiqiang, He Jin, Li Hongwen, Wang Qingjie, Lu Caiyun, Lou Shangyi, Liu Wenzheng, Cheng Xiupei

Aiming at solving the problem of corn straw uneven-distribution of straw retention machine in North China, based on kinematic analysis, the straw spreading process and its straw dynamics model was studied. Then, effects of spreading angle (SA), spreading deflection angle (SDA) and height of guide vane (HGV) on straw spreading distance, width and uniformity were analyzed. Taking SA, SDA and HGV as experimental factors, the straw spreading distance, width and uniformity were used as experimental indicators. Then the optimization experiment of Box-Behnken design corresponding surface was conducted to obtained batter operating parameter of experimental factors. Simultaneously, mathematical regression model of experimental factors and indicators was established. The test results shown that SA, SDA and HGV had extremely significant effects on width, distance and uniformity of straw spreading, respectively; The SA had extremely significant effect on straw spreading uniformity, the SDA and HGV had significant effect on straw spreading uniformity; The interaction between SA and SDA had extremely significant effect on straw spreading distance and significant effect on spreading uniformity. Furthermore, through parameter optimization test, the better combination of parameters of SA, SDA and HGV were 20°, 11.51°, and 1.12m, respectively. By field test under working condition of better parameters combination, the test results shown that width, distance and uniformity of straw spreading was 2.58m, 3.89m and 95.8%, respectively. The error between the test and theoretical prediction value was less than 5%, proved the accuracy of the model. The study can provide theoretical reference for parameters design of straw choppers.

115-114

Authors: Honghao, Liu; Kaixing, Zhang; Xianxi, Liu; Zhenghe, Song

The problem of long design cycle, low efficiency and poor knowledge reusability still exists in China, in the process of agricultural machinery design. The reuse retrieval method designed for agricultural equipment CAD model is proposed to improve agricultural machinery digital design. Since agricultural machinery CAD model has internal coupling and local similarity attributes resulting in low performance of general retrieval methods, the Monte-Carlo light simulation method is utilized to extract CAD model partial features. Firstly, the light propagation process in different mediums was quantitatively analysed with optical parameters. Then how light propagates in complex agricultural CAD model was simulated according to Monte-Carlo method. After that the CAD model feature could be extracted with partial propagation information for design reuse retrieval. Finally, the proposed reuse retrieval method was evaluated on retrieval precision, recall and E-measure with particular agricultural model dataset. The results showed that the accuracy of proposed method was higher than that of general model retrieval approaches. Sphere constrained space and 10000 photon packets were shown to be the optimal feature extraction parameters for agricultural CAD model. The final design application results indicated that the proposed method could particularly satisfy agricultural CAD rapid design requirement, which is more suitable for offline complex agriculture CAD model retrieval. This paper is expected to provide a fine-grained, intelligent and visual method for agricultural machinery CAD management, promoting automatic and intelligent design of agricultural machinery manufacturing industry.

121-128

Authors: Cârdei, Petru; Stefan, Vasilica; Popa, Lucretia; Ciupercă, Radu

This article presents the results of statistical modeling using experimental results obtained with an organic fertilizer spreading machine having a spreading device that consists of vertical helical rotors. Exposed statistical models are embodied in functions that connect input parameters, command parameters and output parameters of the process in order to estimate machine qualities and optimize the working process. It also shows global qualitative results, along with the profiling of some research methods on experiment groups characterized by different sets of values of the considered working regime parameters.

137-146

Authors: Rogovskii, I.L.; Titova, L.L.; Trokhaniak, V.I.; Rosamaha, Yu.O.; Blesnyuk, O.V.; Ohiienko, A.V.

The paper covers process flowsheets and design implementation of two-phase coulter systems of seeding machines for precision farming technologies. A mathematical model of the movement of a two-phase coulter system has been developed and simulation modelling has been conducted. As a result, the ability of a two-phase coulter system to operate a specified working mode, if such operating parameters as, for example, the amplitude and the frequency of irregularities entering a coulter system, the mass of a slot cutter and an indenting disk, a damping coefficient, an amplification coefficient etc. are changed, given that there are systematic and random errors of measuring and control elements, has been determined. Technology evaluation of a two-phase coulter system operation was conducted in the field environment by determining the variation coefficients of a seeding depth, the distance between plants in a row, field germination capacity and the average soil consistency in the area of a plant location. Technical and economic assessment of the application of a two-phase coulter system on row-crop seeding machines has been conducted.

155-166

Authors: Qiyue, Sun; Tinghui, Wu; Xiuguo, Zou; Xinfa, Qiu; Heyang, Yao; Shikai, Zhang; Yuning, Wei

In view of the two problems existing in the tracing of yellow feather broilers in the flat breeding house: the first is the fast location of yellow feather broilers and the second is the tracking accuracy. In this paper, the foreground detection method based on colour features and YOLOv3 algorithm is used to quickly identify yellow feather broilers respectively, and then Kalman filter and Hungarian matching algorithm are used to track yellow feather broilers in the flat breeding house. The traditional algorithm has a poor recognition effect on the aggregation behaviour of broilers, resulting in poor follow-up tracking effect. Through YOLOv3 training and detection, the aggregated broilers can be well separated. The detection precision and recall rate are 98.8% and 87.5% respectively, far exceeding the accuracy and recall rate of the traditional algorithm. The model combining YOLOv3 and tracking algorithm can quickly and accurately identify and track the yellow feather broilers in the flat breeding house, which provides a new method for the detection of the movement rule and motion trail of the yellow feather broilers.

177-186

Authors: Li, Liu; Jianxing, Li; Zhengkun; Li; Qunming, Liu; Yinggang, Shi; Yongjie, Cui

Robotic simulations are an effective approach to validate various models and design schemes. A tomato sorting Delta parallel mechanism was validated in this study for the purposes of end-effector motion planning via simulation analysis. Real-world conditions of the robot as well as its forward and inverse kinematics were obtained, followed by simulation analysis to determine whether its workspace meets relevant operation requirements. The motion trajectory of the end-effector is planned according to the simulation results and the motion requirements for tomato sorting. A sine modified trapezoidal acceleration curve is applied as the motion law on the arc trajectory of the end-effector; said motion trajectory is found to be smooth and conducive to stable running of the robot based on MATLAB software analysis. A prototype was designed based on the simulation results and utilized to successfully complete 31 sorting tasks in one minute while smoothly and stably running.

195-202

Authors: Nedelcu, A.; Cârdei, P.; Ciupercă, R.; Ştefan, V.; Zaica, A.

In this article, the authors present the results of research on Chlorella Vulgaris algae growing technology in open system with cascade type pilot installation, Bold Basal Medium (BBM), culture agitation by recirculation and ambient temperature (with minimal warming). In the experiments were identified monitoring elements necessary to provide information that can lead to mathematical models of algal growth which can demonstrate the viability of the cultivation system and which can be used to optimize algae culture growing technology. In this article, an elementary statistical model for prediction, by linear regression, of algal biomass concentration is also presented. Prediction can be the basis for creating a more complex, largely deterministic model. The article presents results that will support mathematical models that can optimize the cultivation systems of these algae. Statistical models (linear or nonlinear regressions) can be useful and precise in automated production systems only when used in working intervals corresponding to the experimental ones.

213-222

Authors: Bao, Xuanbin; Zhao, Xiangyu; He, Jin; Li, Hongwen; Wang, Qingjie; Liu, Wenzheng

Straw returning is an effective option to avoid straw open burning during harvest seasons and has been widely implemented all over the world. This study developed a plowing and rotary tillage combined machine, which could bury the straw, break the soil and prepare the soil for planting in one operation. The machine consists of plowing component, rotary component and power transmission system. The plow component was designed by the response surface analysis, which analyzed the influence of different contour line of plow surface on the burying effect and the working resistance at the speeds of 0.8m/s, 1.0m/s and 1.2m/s respectively. In combination with the working effect of the plow component, the rotary blades were arranged by the method of 4n±2. The orthogonal test results showed that the C-plow surface has the best burying effect at 1m/s. The field tests showed that the machine had a straw burying rate of 91%, surface roughness was 0.564, fuel consumption was 43.41 kg/ha and the soil-breaking rate reached 96.08%; all the performance indexes met the design requirements. The study can provide theoretical reference for parameters design of plowing and rotary tillage combined machine.

231-238

Authors: Najjar, Yousef; Irbai, Abdelrahman

Grain drying is essential for preserving grains. In this work, heat, and mass transfer analysis is done for a thin layer dryer that consists of radiated semi-cylindrical wall and two individual flat plates at the base. The grain plate is a conveyor bed, whereas the other plate is a heater. The radiation heat transfer from the heated plate is used to remove the moisture. The plate temperature and convective heat transfer coefficient are calculated under different operating conditions. At design conditions, the required heat flux for evaporating the moisture content is 0.89 of the radiation heat flux from the plate.

247-258

Authors: Cârdei, P.; Găgeanu, I.; Voicu, Gh.; Matache, M.

The paper presents the results on the systemic and statistic modelling of the process of pelleting fir tree sawdust powder. A systemic model is presented, specifying the inputs, commands and outputs. Based on experimental result, it is then attempted to perform a statistical modelling only using the technique of linear and nonlinear regressions. Results for the performances of qualitative modelling and estimations of system (pelleting process) behaviour are displayed, as well as some limitations on using statistic modelling based on regression technique. Although some results can appear as interesting, it is shown that any interesting point in the space of input and command parameters (point that is convenient or even optimal in exploitation) should be experimentally checked in the sense of verifying the properties highlighted by the functions found. This means that any theoretically convenient parametric combination should be experimentally validated through high resolution experiments.

273-284

Authors: Biocca, M.; Fanigliulo, R.; Pochi, D.; Gallo, P.

The treatment of seed (seed dressing) is an effective way to control pests and diseases in the early stages of plant life. However, during sowing operations, emission of abraded pesticide-containing dust particles can occur, causing contamination of air, water and other natural resources, including honeybees and other pollinating insects. Among several factors involved in dust drift, a central role is played by the seeder machines. This review article presents an overview of various aspects linked to the phenomenon of dust emission and drift from pesticide seed dressing during sowing and its consequences. The review focuses on the dust drift mitigating devices applied on precision pneumatic drills, highlighting the contribution of agricultural engineering studies on this specific topic.

293-302

Authors: Cebro Irwin Syahri, Mandang Tineke, Hermawan Wawan, Desrial

The use of two-wheel tractors to cultivate terraced rice fields is still experiencing difficulties, especially the complexity of mobilization and the problem of moving the tractor from the lower plots to the upper plots that must climb the steep embankment. This study aims to improve the performance of two-wheel tractors when climbing the slopes, by modifying the handlebar. Modified tractor handlebar can be hoisted with a locking hinge mechanism so that the handlebar angle of inclination to normal position can be adjusted to 0°, 10°, 20°, 30°, and 40°. Simulation of the tractor’s handlebar position when starting up the slope was done using AutoCAD software. Modified two-wheel tractors were tested for the ease of climbing the slope, and compared to the tractor with a rigid handlebar. The results of the performance test showed that the adjustable handlebar could climb the slope of 45° and 57° slope angle, while the tractor with fixed handlebar failed to climb. When starting up the slope, the position of the operator can remain standing (not necessarily bending) when operating the two-wheel tractor with the adjustable handlebar. The tractor with adjustable handlebar could climb slopes better and easier than the tractor with the fixed handlebar.

9-18

Authors: Sibirev, A.V.; Aksenov, A.G.; Dorokhov, A.S.

The increased yield of onion sets through the use of high-yielding hybrids as seed material entails an increase in weight and number of onion bulbs per one running meter. Consequently, the onion set heap supply from the surface of modern harvesters digging over the separating working parts is also increased. However, these harvesters do not ensure complete removal of soil impurities during onion set harvesting in the traditional onion set production conditions. In this regard, it is necessary to carry out investigations to identify areas on the surface of a chain digger with asymmetric vibrator arrangement and minimum value of soil screening, as well as to develop recommendations and proposals for their improvement. The paper describes a procedure and results of laboratory tests of a chain digger with asymmetric vibrator arrangement to determine soil screening ability on its surface. It was found out that the greatest value of the screened soil mass, regardless of the supply of soil impurities, was observed at the wave length attenuation section of the loaded strand in the chain digger due to elliptical vibrator impact relevant to the length of the chain digger L_EL=1020 mm. The paper provides the results of laboratory tests of a chain digger with asymmetric vibrator arrangement and determines the length-width soil screening relationship.

29-36

Authors: Geng, C.X.; Wang, P.; Qin, P.L.; Zhang, W.B.; Wang, P.B.;

Aiming at the spectral image acquisition of cucumber downy mildew, the study proposed the optimal selection method of spectral imaging characteristic wavelengths combining the mean-variance analysis and analysis of variance. In this study, the variation degree and range of reflection spectrum was quantitatively measured for both healthy leaves and disease spots in cucumber plants. The analysis showed that the three sensitive wavebands (493 nm - 533 nm, 561 nm - 653 nm, and 689 nm - 698 nm) could properly reflect the inter class difference in spectral reflectance between the dorsal part of lesion and healthy leaves. When the selected combination of spectrum was used as the reference for disease spectral imaging acquisition, it showed that the choice of sensitive wavebands can better reflect the difference in the characteristics between lesion and healthy leaves. It has laid the foundation for obtaining the effective spectral images of disease and simplifying the algorithm for image identification.

45-54

Authors: Rodimtsev, S.A., Kuznetsov, Y.A., Kolomeichenko, A.V., Goncharenko, V.V., Patrin, E.I., Mikhaylova, Y.L.

Threshing of grain mass in the threshing and separating devices is one of the most «noisy» operations. The main noise sources of a working thresher are the processes of impact interaction of grain with the threshing device cover. Based on the simulation of dynamic and acoustic processes, a formula for calculating the noise level generated by the dynamic contact of free grain with the details of the thresher design, which allows planning of the organizational and technical measures to reduce noise at workplaces, was obtained.

63-70

Authors: Vasylkovskyi, Oleksii; Vasylkovska, Kateryna; Moroz, Serhii; Sviren, Mykola; Storozhyk, Larysa;

The rational succession of technological operations of all-purpose grain cleaning machines was substantiated at the Department of Agricultural Engineering at Central Ukrainian National Technical University. The original design of a separating conveyor used in the first stage of the proposed cleaning scheme was created. The experimental separating conveyor allows extracting large impurities before feeding the grain mass to aspiration, reducing the resistance of the system and creating optimal conditions for air cleaning. The objective of our research was to identify rational parameters and operating modes of the suggested separating conveyor. The objective was achieved by studying the influence of the basic parameters of the conveyor: the inclination angle α, sieve hole diameter d, buckets velocity v, as well as the specific loading of the sieve width unit qB on one of the most important qualitative indicators which is grain separation fineness. The fineness is characterised by the content of full-value grains in fodder waste. The experimental device and methodology for laboratory research were developed to identify the most influential factors on the separation fineness. During the research, the matrix of the full factorial experiment of the 24 type was implemented. The basic level and intervals of factors variation were chosen based on the analysis of theoretical studies results and experimental research preliminary data. The obtained regularities confirmed the efficiency of the suggested design and allowed identifying the rational parameters of the separating conveyor to ensure acceptable separation fineness of grain.

81-90

Authors: Golub, G.A.; Chuba, V.V.; Marus, O.A.;

The obtained results allow calculating the actual rolling radius of the wheel and evaluate the slipping of the drive wheels of self-propelled machines in accordance with the air pressure in the tires and the parameters of interaction with the support surface. On the basis of the developed model for determining the initial radius of the wheel and the length of the contact zone of the wheel with the support surface, the dependence for determining the actual radius of the wheel rolling was obtained. The studies have confirmed an increase in the actual rolling radius and a decrease in wheel slip with an increase in air pressure in the tires. For example, for the rear wheel of a tractor John Deere 7130 with an increase in pressure from 0.6 to 2.6 atm, an increase in the rolling radius by 21 mm and a decrease in the slip coefficient from 1.94 to 0.83% were observed. For the front wheel, when the pressure changed from 1 to 2 atm, the rolling radius increased by 7 mm and the wheel slip coefficient decreased from 1.76 to 1.12 %. The determination index of calculated and experimental values of the real rolling radius is η2 = 0.98 for the front and η2 = 0.99 for the rear wheels, which indicates the adequacy of the calculated dependences.

103-114

Authors: Xiaobin, Du; Junlin, He; Yongqiang, He; Dawei, Fang

In this paper, the mechanical injury evaluation standard of Cerasus humilis was established based on extrusion deformation energy and fruit storage days. The key factors affecting extrusion deformation were determined by analysing the contact force during combing. The single-factor test and three-factor, three-level quadratic regression orthogonal test were carried out by using the fruit removal rate and damage rate as the evaluation indices and the comb distance, combing speed and comb rod radius as the influencing factors. Results showed that the fruit removal rate decreased and the damage rate initially decreased and then increased with the increase in comb distance; with the increase in combing speed, the fruit removal rate remained unchanged and the damage rate increased; with the increase in comb rod radius, the fruit removal rate initially increased and then decreased, while the damage rate initially decreased and then increased. The order of influence on the fruit removal rate was comb rod radius > comb distance > combing speed. The order of influence on the damage rate was combing speed > comb distance > comb rod radius. Response surface methodology obtained the following optimal parameters: comb distance of 9 mm, combing speed of 340 mm/s and comb rod radius of 8 mm. A validation test was carried out on a combing test bench under the optimised parameters. The fruit removal rate was 96.89% and the damage rate was 6.36%. These values were consistent with the results of optimum parameters; thus, the regression model was reliable.

123-134

Authors: Hevko, R.B.; Zalutskyi, S.Z.; Hladyo, Y.B.; Tkachenko, I.G.; Lyashuk, O.L.; Pavlova, O.M.; Pohrishchuk, B.V.; Trokhaniak, O.M.; Dobizha, N.V.;

The article presents a new design of a screw conveyor with sectional elastic surface aimed at reducing the grain material damage degree whilst its transportation. Theoretical calculations of a grain-screw conveyor elastic section interaction were made. A dynamic model was developed for determining both the impact of design, kinematic and technological parameters of the elastic screw conveyor on the time and free path of granular material particles whilst their motion between sections and for preventing grain material-screw nonworking surface interaction to reduce the material damage

141-146

Authors: Rogovskii, I.L.; Titova, L.L.; Trokhaniak, V.I.; Solomka, O.V.; Popyk, P.S.; Shvidia, V.O.; Stepanenko, S.P.

During the experimental studies of drying grain crops with high moisture content in a low-pressure environment, the influence of residual pressure in a peri-seed environment and seed heating temperature on drying exposure and laboratory germination have been investigated. These experimental studies have been carried out by means of the experimental facility and its attachments that make it possible to provide residual pressure within the range of 10 – 80 kPa and seed heating temperature of +20 – +40 оС. Having processed the experimental data, regression equations of drying exposure and laboratory germination of grain crops with high moisture content by the example of corn seeds have been derived. The characteristic curves plotted based on the regression equations show that the minimum drying exposure and, simultaneously, the maximum laboratory germination can be achieved by applying residual pressure of 45 kPа and seed heating temperature of no more than +30 оС.

157-164

Authors: Sheichenko, V.O.; Kuzmych, A.Ya.; Shevchuk, M.V.; Shevchuk, V.V.; Belovod, O.I.

The influence on wheat grain quality indices of the preliminary threshing machine parameters of combine harvester header was investigated. The value of the trauma and the germination energy of the grain collected by the combine with the serial and experimental harvester were determined. It was established that as a result of passing the grain through the entire technological chain of the combine, germination energy decreased by 1.13 - 1.15 times. For the proposed options for preliminary threshing of grain, rational throughput values have been established, which correspond to high levels of germination energy. The highest germination energy level of the grain 99% was noted in the header, the drum of which contained four strips, according to the combine throughput 7.5 kg/s. This level was 7% higher than the serial header.

173-178

Authors: Adamchuk V.; Bulgakov V.; IvanovsS.; Prysyazhnyi V. ; Boris A.

Miscanthus is a promising energy crop. There are no inexpensive and efficient planting machines in practice as yet for planting on small areas up to 10-20 hectares. In order to plant the Miscanthus rhizomes on such areas, it is appropriate to use potato planters equipped with special replaceable spoons. Research has been carried out to optimize the parameters of a planting machine spoons and the length of the planting material (rhizomes), as well as to test mechanised planting under economic conditions by means of a potato planter equipped with an upgraded planting apparatus.

187-198

Authors: Mehdi, Samadi; Vahid, Rostampour; Shamsoallah, Abdollahpour

In the industry, the pneumatic conveying of wheat grains has attracted a lot of attention due to benefits such as enclosed transfer and flexibility in routing. Measuring the mass flow of wheat grains is important to avoid problems such as wear of the transmission pipes, pipeline clog due to dense phase and fracture of the seeds. In this research, the acoustic signal analysis method was used to detect the mass flow rate of wheat grains at three levels of 1.5, 3 and 4.5 kg/min in the pneumatic conveying. The signals decomposition was done in time-frequency domain (wavelet transform) with 9 levels. The properties of Sum, Mean, Variance (VAR), Root Mean Square (RMS), Skewness, Kurtosis, and Moment were compared. The results showed that the first (d1), second (d2), fifth (d5), sixth (d6) and seventh (d7) detail sub-signals have the highest ability and priority to detect mass flow levels, respectively. Also among the studied properties, sum, mean, VAR, RMS, and moment, are prioritized for detecting mass flow levels with probability level of 1%, respectively. The values of all these properties increased with increasing mass flow rate. The acoustic signal analysis technique has a good potential for detecting the different mass flow levels of conveyed wheat grains.

207-214

Authors: Chursina, L.; Tikhosova, H.; Holovenko T.; Shovkomud, O.; Kniaziev, O.; Yanyuk, T.

The article presents scientific and practical achievements in creating innovative mechanical technologies for oilseed flax straw processing. As a result of systematic research by scientists of Kherson National Technical University, the technology and equipment for mechanical processing of oilseed flax retted straw based on modernization of existing equipment is proposed. As a result, at certain stages of mechanical processing of the retted straw, oil flax fiber with different physical and mechanical characteristics was obtained, which is suitable for use in various industries. Due to the absence of standards for products of oilseed flax straw in Ukraine and in the world, the technical specifications TU U 01.1-2303511525 - 001:2016 "Oilseed flax straw. Specifications" and TU U 01.1-05480298 - 001:2017 "Oilseed flax retted straw. Specifications" were developed and registered in the State enterprise "Kherson standard metrology". This will allow analyzing this industrial raw material, determining the feasibility of mechanical processing and the quality level of fiber as finished product.

225-232

Authors: Jianhua, Yang; Xinyu, Zheng; Jianping, Yao; Jiang, Xiao ; Lei, Yan

The surface defects, especially the insects holes and dents, seriously affect the quality and value of lumber and agri-crop straw-based panels. In this study, two kinds of surface defects, insects holes and dents, were selected as the object of system detection. A surface defect recognition system based on Gocator 3D (3 Dimensional) structure laser sensor was built. An image processing method based on deep learning was designed using HALCON. While the shape features (6-dimensional) and gray-scale texture features (7-dimensions) of the image are extracted, the principal components analysis method is used to reduce the dimensions of the eigenvector. The SVM (Support Vector Machine), GMM (Gaussian Mixture Model) and KNN (K-Nearest Neighbor) are used to classify and identify the defects on the surface of the lumber and agri-crop straw-based panels, and the final classification accuracy is up to 94.67%. The experimental results show that the system can quickly and accurately identify the insects holes and dents through intelligent algorithm. The research results show that the quality evaluation of agricultural and forestry products based on image processing technology is feasible. Structure laser sensor scanning technology can be used in 3D surface defects detect and recognition of lumber and straw-based panels.

243-252

Authors: Shengsheng, Wang; Jiangtao, Ji; Xin, Jin; Lingxin, Geng

The new cleaning system, mainly composed of light impurities cleaning device and stems separating device was designed. The former used cross-flow fan to clean light impurities, and the latter used the differences of radial geometry size between peanut pods and stems to separate stems from peanut pods. By means of theoretical calculation and graphic analysis, the structure motion parameters of the main working parts were determined and the performance experiments were carried out. According to the experimental results, the influence law of the structure motion parameters of peanut cleaning system on cleaning performance was analyzed and optimal combination of parameters was obtained. When the rotation speed of cross-flow fan was 920 r/min, the distance between sliding screen and fan impeller was 100 mm, and the width of discharging exit was 50 mm, the clearance of separation rollers was 2 mm, the rotation speed of separation roller was 300 r/min, and the angle between separating device and horizontal plane was 35°, the impurity content was 0.89%, and the cleaning loss rate was 0.62%, which met the requirement of peanut harvester

261-270

Authors: Biriș S.Șt.; Ungureanu N.; Cujbescu D

This paper presents a theoretical model for prediction of the stress state in agricultural soil under the agricultural tires of a heavy-duty tractor, using the Finite Element Method. Using an acquisition data system and pressure sensors, the theoretical model was experimentally verified in the laboratory. This study highlights the major advantage of using FEM models, which consists mainly in the spectacular reduction of costs for experimental testing and a considerable reduction in the time needed to analyse the possibility of the occurrence of artificial compaction phenomenon in the agricultural soil under heavy-duty tractors.

279-286

Authors: Fuchylo, Ya; Makukh, Ya; Remeniuk, S; Moshkivska, S.; Kharytonov, M.

The results of five-year field experiments using various mechanical techniques to protect annual plantings of energy willow from weeds in the central forest-steppe zone of Ukraine were given. The use of inter-row cultivation system (3 treatments every 15 days) reduced the value of forming a weeds mass to 2.9 times; using mounted chain harrow – 3.1 times, and the use of three consequent harrowing between rows – 3.4 times, compared with the case without weed treatment – 3854 g/m2. The lowest yield of dry energy willow biomass (1.15 t/ha) was obtained without weed control, while the highest was obtained after six consequent hand weedings (3.14 t/ha). Successive hoeing of the space between rows ensured, on the average, 2.52 t/ha dry biomass in the first year of rowing, while similar harrowing with chain harrow 2.55 t /ha, and cutting of weeds 2.60 t/ha