INMATEH - Agricultural Engineering

9-18

Authors: Zhang, HongJian; Xu, ChunBao; Liu, ShuangXi; Jiang, Hao; Liu, Xuemei; Wang, JinXing

In order to improve the fertilization uniformity and stability of the orchard double row ditching-fertilizing machine, the design was optimized. Firstly, the factors affecting the movement of the fertilizer particles were analysed in combination with the kinetic model of the fertilizer particles during the falling process. Secondly, the influence of each factor on the fertilization uniformity was analysed by single factor variance. Finally, the Box-Behnken central composite method was used to establish a mathematical model of fertilization uniformity of the orchard double row ditching-fertilizing machine, and regression statistical variance, response surface, and contour lines were used to analyse the influence of each mechanism parameter on the fertilization uniformity. The test results show that: when the test parameters of the conveyer belt speed is within 165~235 r·min-1, the advancing velocity is within 0.8~1.2 m·s-1, and the guide plate angle is changed within the range of 15~45°, the degree of influence of each factor on the fertilization uniformity from high to low is the conveyer belt speed, advancing velocity, the angle of the guide plate, and the conveyer belt speed; when the conveyer belt speed is 214 r·min-1, advancing velocity is 1 m·s-1, and the angle of the guide plate is 37°, the fertilizer coverage reaches 100%, and the fertilization uniformity is increased from 86.31% to 90.73%, and the fertilization stability is improved. The research results provide a theoretical basis for the design and optimization of orchard ditching-fertilizing machine.

29-38

Authors: Jing, Xue; Pei, Wu; He, Su; Yongan, Zhang; Haijun, Zhang;

Based on the split-stream rushing principle and multi-unit coupling theory, a new type of coupled muffler for diesel engine was designed, and the experimental study on the acoustic performance and exhaust resistance performance was completed. The results show that the growth rate of insertion loss of the coupled muffler within 200Hz is 34.01% compared to the original muffler. The average fuel consumption reduction rate of the diesel engine with the coupled muffler is 19.16% lower than that of the original muffler. Therefore, the coupled muffler can achieve the comprehensive goal of good acoustic performance and low exhaust resistance.

49-54

Authors: Morozov, Nikolai Mikhailovich; Tsoy, Leonid Maksimovich; Rasskazov, Aleksander Nikolaevich

A set of equipment for an innovative keeping system based on the modern technical means using is presented. The set of equipment includes a machine for weaning piglets’ keeping, a vibrating feed distributor and a self-feeder. The small-group weaning holding, piglets’ nest-building behavior technology justification is given, and a new type of feed distributor and self-feeding device developing expediency is shown. The experimental studies materials of a new (vibrating) feed distributor using are presented, its efficiency and sufficient performance are confirmed. The calculated economic efficiency of the developed feed distributor is given.

69-78

Authors: Tai, Jianjian; Li, Haitao; Du, Yuefeng; Mao, Enrong; Guan, Yunyi; Long, Xinjiani

In the design of corn combine harvester, there is a high demand for customization and diversification in China. Aiming at the problems of backward design method, lack of design knowledge and long product development cycle, the discrete beam method is used to establish the corn plant model. The model of sub-device and the vertical and horizontal roller picking device is established by using UG, and the virtual prototype model is established by using ADAMS software. Meanwhile, the simulation experiments on the kinematics and dynamics performance of the separating device, the corn plant and the picking roller are carried out, and the simulation results are verified by field experiments. Through this method, the design parameters of the separating device and the picking roller are serialized, the method of evaluating the separating performance and the picking performance is provided, and the development and design cycle is shortened, which provides certain reference and theoretical basis for the development and design of the corn harvester header.

89-98

Authors: Xie, ShouYong; Zhao, Hang; Yang, ShangHong; Xie, QiuJu; Yang, MingJin

Machine quality, mowing efficiency and work reliability of lawn mowers are main issues concerned in hilly and mountainous regions. Taking a rotary lawn mower of single-disc type as research object, structure and parameter design of the mower was defined according to empirical formula, performance of grass cutting and modal analysis of the cutting blades were conducted by means of EDEM and Creo, and field test was conducted to verify the overall performance of the machine. Results showed that symmetrically installed 2 cutting blades with revolution speed 3500 r/min and forward speed 1.4 m/s showed good performance of grass cutting and stability. The velocity of grass particles of cut grass was mostly in the range of 1.1-1.5 m/s, and the velocity of broken grass was stable, which proved good harvest and gathering of grass. The height of remained stubbles was about 50 mm, and the length of cut grass was distributed in the range of 30-60 mm, which met requirements of forage production.

107-114

Authors: Ivanovs, S.; Bulgakov, V.; Kuvachоv, V.; Kaletnik, H.; Shymko, L.; Ihnatiev, Y.

The article exposes the results of the mathematical simulation of the agricultural bridge equipment functioning. The mathematical models describing the functioning of the agricultural bridge equipment were checked for adequacy by comparing the theoretical and experimental amplitude-frequency characteristics of the oscillations of its heading angle and lateral displacement. It was established by the result of investigated characteristics’ quantitative assessment that a satisfactory coincidence of the theoretical and experimental results, as well as a positive result of checking the adequacy of the mathematical models of the vertical and the horizontal oscillations of the agricultural equipment indicate a possibility of their further use for solving scientific and practical problems.

125-132

Authors: Zheng, Jizhou; Han, Xiang; Guo, Haoran; Hou, Jialin; Xue, Xinyu

The stability of the boom system of sprayers is easily affected by the liquid sloshing force and the uniformity of droplet deposition deteriorates. Therefore, the liquid sloshing forces in the rectangular tank were measured through experiments. Three main factors affecting the sloshing forces were examined. Experimental results reveal that the sloshing forces measured fit well with the theoretical curve and the maximum sloshing force is independent of the excitation amplitude for a violent sloshing. Based on these characteristics, a practical method was proposed which can approximately calculate the maximum sloshing force based on the linear model, and can be used for the sprayer chassis design and active and passive control of boom attitude.

147-154

Authors: Wang, Lijuan; Yan, Jianguo; Xie, Shengshi; Wang, Chunguang

Measuring and analysing the roughness of agricultural field and road have great significance for studying the characteristics of tractor dynamic response. This study was designed to analyse and compare the roughness characteristics of agricultural field and asphalt road profiles. A profiling apparatus was developed to measure field and road surface profiles of parallel tracks. The profile measurements were conducted in a grass field, a corn stubble field, a harvested potato field and on an asphalt road. The root mean square value and two spectrum parameters of surface profiles were calculated and analysed to investigate the roughness characteristics of fields and asphalt road. The results of the study indicate that for the values of the agricultural field and asphalt road surface roughness, waviness and roughness index are both positive associated with the root mean square value. Most of the waviness values of all measured field profiles were less than 2 with the average of 1.8, while the waviness values of all measured asphalt road profiles were greater than 2 with the average of 2.08. The roughness of both field and asphalt road profiles can be distinguished by the power spectral density fitting method. However, it has better performance in characterizing asphalt road profiles than characterizing field profiles with the power spectral density fitting method.

165-172

Authors: Bekana, D.L.; Kolev, Z.D.; Kadirova, S.Y.; Nenov, T.R.; Kadikyanov, G.P.

This paper presents investigation of some operational parameters of coatings for rebuilding, deposited on worn-out cast-iron parts of self-propelled agricultural machines. The coatings have been realized by applying a combined technology comprising deposition of electrochemical coating of non-ferrous metal and subsequently deposition of welding coating. The parameters for deposition of the electrochemical coatings and the parameters for deposition of the welding coatings have been presented. The results of the investigation of the following coatings’ operational parameters are presented: removed material in friction process, friction torque, micro-hardness and roughness. Based on the results obtained, the relative wear resistance of the coatings has been calculated.

181-190

Authors: Qun, Ren

With the development of agricultural automation, applying intelligent algorithms to the navigation control of agricultural work vehicles has important practical significance for improving vehicle navigation accuracy and operation efficiency. In view of the complexity of the agricultural greenhouse environment, this study proposed a fuzzy PID path tracking algorithm based on the traditional vehicle PID control system. This algorithm uses a fuzzy controller to improve the PID control system, thereby realizing the online setting of PID control parameters. In order to verify the effectiveness of the fuzzy PID path tracking algorithm, the improved control system was applied to the tracked vehicle robot of Beijing Forestry University, and the operation performance of the vehicle robot was tested. The research results show that the absolute error rate of vehicle robot distance measurement is less than 1%; the error of the man-machine follow-up test is between 4 and 7 cm, and the measured follow-up distance is slightly less than the safe follow-up distance; the maximum error of the vehicle's fixed-point parking is 0.3 cm; The linear position tracking control has a lateral position deviation of ±3cm, and the vehicle's linear driving control and steering effects are better. The fuzzy PID path tracking algorithm designed this time shows good control performance, which has reference significance for the practical application of agricultural robots.

201-210

Authors: Wang, Long; Wang, Xufeng; Hu, Can; He, Xiaowei; Guo, Wensong; Hou, Shulin

The purpose of this research was to study heat and moisture retention and breaking force properties of different plastic mulches. The field experiments with different plastic mulches were carried. The results showed that, the fracture strength and the right-angle tear strength of reinforced mulch are superior to those of weather-resistant mulch and ordinary mulch. The soil moisture, humidity and daily mean temperature under plastic mulches were affected by the laying time at a 1% probability level. It was also found that the variety had no significant effect on daily mean temperature under plastic mulches. A strong correlation was found between breaking force and the laying time of plastic film. A multiple linear regression model was developed to determine the relationship between the heat and moisture retention properties and breaking force. The R2 values of three plastic mulch varieties regression model were 0.904, 0.913 and 0.931. The breaking force of reinforced mulch and weather-resistant mulch indicates that plastic mulch recovery should be conducted after autumn, before it is too weakened by exposure.

219-228

Authors: Hou, Zhongkun

With the development of information technology, precision agriculture has also ushered in new development prospects. The use of farm robots to accurately identify the navigation path is of great significance for achieving accurate positioning of agriculture. In this study, when analysing the extraction algorithm of farm robot visual navigation based on dark primary colours, a method for pre-processing and edge detection of farmland images based on dark primary colours is proposed. At the same time, the least square method of linear fitting is used for the navigation path of agricultural robot, and then the fitting program is executed. On this basis, combined with the actual situation of outdoor farming and greenhouse cultivation of crops, the effectiveness of the robotic visual navigation extraction algorithm was verified. The research results show that for any form of farmland cultivation, image extraction technology based on dark primary colours can effectively distinguish between soil and crops, and the visual navigation path of farm robots fitted with least squares is basically linear, which is consistent with the commonly used crops for farm planting. The legal route is basically the same, and then the effectiveness of the extraction algorithm is verified. It is hoped that this study will provide a certain reference and reference for the analysis of the field navigation robot visual navigation extraction algorithm based on dark primary colours.

239-248

Authors: Zhou, Kai; Meng, Zhiwei; Wei, Min; Hou, Jialin; Jin, Tianguo; Li, Tianhua

In order to improve the effective sunshine time, heat storage capacity and temperature distribution uniformity of traditional arch shed under low temperature, this paper designed a large-span arch shed which has larger sunny side span and east-west orientation. According to the numerical and measured data, it is concluded that the heat storage capacity and temperature distribution of asymmetrical arch shed are better than those of symmetrical arch shed within a certain range of the ratio between sunny and shaded side. After that, ten different asymmetric arch sheds were designed. It is concluded that the structure of 11+9 m along north-south direction has the best heat storage capacity. Besides that, the analysis of outside wind speed and opening size of top vent were carried out. It is found that the outside wind and top vent can effectively promote convection and exchange of the air, and then achieve the purpose of reducing the temperature. At the end of this paper, in order to identify the relationship of temperature with the structure of arch shed, outside wind speed, and opening size of top vent, a mathematical model was built based on response surface methodology, which would provide theoretical guidance for the design of arch sheds

259-268

Authors: Li, Qinlan

The key to the design of the ground air dual-purpose agricultural information acquisition robot is the application of machine vision technology to realize the collection of crop growth state information. This research mainly designs the machine vision system of the ground air dual-purpose agricultural information acquisition robot, including hardware, software and image processing algorithm. The machine vision system designed in this paper can effectively complete the collection of crop status information. In order to verify the effectiveness of machine vision system, blueberry was used as the experimental object. The control group was set up indoor and outdoor, the fruit condition and quality information were detected, and the blueberry yield was estimated according to the test results. The experimental results show that the image segmentation algorithm in the vision system can identify blueberry fruit well, and the system has strong information analysis ability, and can accurately predict the quality and yield of blueberry fruit according to the image. It can be seen that the machine vision system has a good ability of information acquisition and recognition, which has a high reference significance for the design and research of the ground air dual-purpose agricultural information acquisition robot.

277-288

Authors: Peng, Fa; Liu, ShuangXi; Jiang, Hao; Liu, XueMei; Mu, JunLin; Wang, JinXing

In order to detect the soluble solids content of apples quickly and accurately, a portable apple soluble solids content detector based on USB2000 + micro spectrometer was developed. The instrument can communicate with computer terminal and mobile app through network port, Bluetooth and other ways, which can realize the rapid acquisition of apple spectral information. Firstly, the visible / near-infrared spectrum data and soluble solids content information of 160 apple samples were collected; secondly, the spectral data preprocessing methods were compared, and the results showed that the prediction model of sugar content based on partial least square (PLS) method after average smoothing preprocessing was accurate. The correlation coefficient (RP) and root mean square error (RMSEP) of the prediction model were 0.902 and 0.589° Brix, respectively. Finally, on the basis of average smoothing preprocessing, competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and successive projections algorithm (SPA) were used to optimize the wavelength of spectral data, and PLS model was constructed based on the selected 17 characteristic wavelengths, which can increase the accuracy of soluble solids content prediction model, increase the RP to 0.912, and reduce RMSEP to 0.511 ° Brix. The portable visible / near infrared spectrum soluble solids prediction model based on the instrument and method has high accuracy, and the detector can quickly and accurately measure the soluble solids content of apple.

299-308

Authors: Hou, Zhanfeng; Yi, Qiu; Zhi, Chen; Lijie, Chen; Shao, Zhiwei

In order to improve the pelleting effect of Agropyron seeds, the pelleting experiment was conducted under different working parameters. In this paper, the discrete element simulation software EDED was used to establish the simulation model, and the influence of the vibration frequency of coater, the tilt angle of coater, and the rotational speed of coater on the movement trajectory of the Agropyron population were analysed. The simulation results show that the rotational speed is 40r/min, the tilt angle is 35° and the vibration frequency is 20 Hz, and the amplitude is 2 mm, the optimal trajectory of Agropyron population is obtained. The orthogonal experiment of 3 factors (vibration frequency of coater, rotational speed of coater, tilt angle of coater) and 5 levels were designed. The working parameters of pelleting Agropyron seeds were optimized by investigating the 4 indexes of compressive strength, seed rate, single seed rate and pelleting qualified rate. The results show that the vibration is the main factor affecting the compressive strength and single seed rate, the rotational speed is the main factor affecting the seed rate, and the inclination angle is the main factor affecting the pelleting rate. The optimal parameters are as follows: the rotational speed is 40r/min, the tilt angle is 35° and the vibration frequency is 20Hz.

317-324

Authors: Guo, Chengcheng; Li, Guohua; Zhang, Junchang; Jin, Xiunan; Xue, Jingfeng; He, Chenxi, Lu, Liquan

The cross-slot opener is a new type of seeding opener. The sweep angle, which is a key structural parameter of the cross knife, has an important influence on soil disturbance. In this paper, discrete element method and tracer method are used to study the conditions of working speed of 0.83m/s and ditching depth of 130mm, the sweep angles of the transverse knife are 0°, 10°, 20°, 30°, 40°, respectively. The influence of time opener on soil disturbance and working resistance. The simulation analysis of the operation process of the cross groove opener shows that the trenching process under different sweep angles of the transverse knife is basically the same, and the standing knife is the main cause of soil disturbance; both the tracer method and the simulation results show the surface and shallow soil particle disturbance. The proportional and horizontal working resistance first decrease and then increase with the increase of the sweep angle of the cross-slot opener. When the sweep angle of the cross-slot opener is 20°, the micro-disturbance of soil particles and the horizontal work resistance are the least; The relative error of the soil disturbance ratio obtained by the tracer method and the discrete element method are both within 15%, and the relative error of the horizontal working resistance is 6.5%. The established discrete element simulation model can more accurately simulate the soil disturbance process of the cross-slot opener.

333-340

Authors: Zhang, Zefeng

With the development of science and technology, the degree of agricultural mechanization is getting higher and higher. Agricultural machinery is an important support for the development of agricultural modernization. Optimizing the allocation of agricultural machinery is conducive to improving agricultural production efficiency and economic benefits. In this paper, mathematical modelling method is mainly used in the analysis and optimization of agricultural machinery configuration. By determining the objective function and constraint equation, combined with the actual situation of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the linear programming model and workload model of agricultural machinery and equipment optimization are established. Finally, the actual number of agricultural machinery and equipment and the number of optimal allocations of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps farm were compared. The effectiveness of the optimization model is verified by comparing the optimized agricultural machinery equipment with the actual equipment. The results show that the optimized equipment model has good optimization effect. On the basis of reducing the number of agricultural machinery and equipment, the matching rate of agricultural machinery is improved, and the operation cost of agricultural machinery is effectively reduced. It is hoped that this study can provide certain reference and reference for the optimization analysis of agricultural machinery and equipment based on mathematical modelling.

351-360

Authors: Sun, Zhiquan; Yang, Zhou; Duan, Jieli; Li, Jun

Parts that come into contact with the soil are ones of the important energy consuming parts in tillage operations. In order to improve the research and development efficiency of tillage components, it is necessary to develop a performance test platform for tillage components with high interchangeability, convenience and comprehensive data collection. Therefore, a performance test platform for combined powered and passive tillage components was designed. Strength analysis and structural design optimization of key components was based on ANSYS. A real-time measurement and control software was developed based on LabVIEW platform. The related tests results show that the test platform can be used to simulate the actual condition and meet the test requirements.

369-378

Authors: Habasescu, Ion; Cerempei, Valerian; Molotcov, Iurii; Popa, Lucretia

The article presents the theoretical study and elaborates the calculation methodology of the technological and constructive parameters of the aerodynamic dryers: the saltation speed of the vegetal mass particles, the speed of the thermal agent flow, the length of the dryer pipes and the duration of the moist particles contact with the thermal agent. The comparative analysis of the aerodynamic dryers was performed: with direct and vortex flow. The advantages of vortex dryers, recommended for implementation in production, are theoretically argued. In the research of the developed conical shape dryer, it has been identified a phenomenon of vortex flow parameters self-regulation to the material to be dried inside the dryer, under the condition of varying the amount of material feeding the dryer, allowing automatic creation of optimal drying conditions, when the supply of raw material and/or its humidity were changed within the studied limits. It has been demonstrated the possibility to increase up to 12-15 times the duration of contact of the raw material particles with the thermal agent and, respectively, to reduce the overall dimensions of the developed vortex dryer, compared to the known ones, which have direct air flow.

9-16

Authors: Ivanovs, S.; Bulgakov, V.; Nadykto, V.; Ihnatiev, Ye.; Smolinskyi, S.; Kiernicki, Z.

The paper presents an analysis of the basic principles of formation, the properties and characteristics of a new modular energy tool, consisting of the energy and the technology modules. The purpose of this study is to assess the degree of impact of the throttle in the hydraulic line, connecting the cavity of the hydraulic cylinder, upon the controllability of the modular power tool with a mounted plough during the movement of the ploughing aggregate on the headland. As a result of the conducted tests, it was proved that increasing the controllability of the movement of the aggregate on the basis of a mobile power tool is possible by throttling one of the hydraulic cylinders that limit the mutual reciprocal rotation of the modules in a horizontal plane. Installation of the throttle modular power tool on the limiting hydraulic cylinder with a drag coefficient 1.03×106∙N∙m∙s∙rad–1 allows one to reduce two times the delay in the reaction of the relative bearing of the energy module to a change in the angle of rotation of its driven wheels.

25-34

Authors: Li, Yibo; Li, Hang; Guo, Xiaonan

In order to improve the accuracy of rice transplanter model parameters, an online parameter identification algorithm for the rice transplanter model based on improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO) algorithm and extended Kalman filter (EKF) algorithm was proposed. The dynamic model of the rice transplanter was established to determine the model parameters of the rice transplanter. Aiming at the problem that the noise matrices in EKF algorithm were difficult to select and affected the best filtering effect, the proposed algorithm used the IPSO algorithm to optimize the noise matrices of the EKF algorithm in offline state. According to the actual vehicle tests, the IPSO-EKF was used to identify the cornering stiffness of the front and rear tires online, and the identified cornering stiffness value was substituted into the model to calculate the output data and was compared with the measured data. The simulation results showed that the accuracy of parameter identification for the rice transplanter model based on the IPSO-EKF algorithm was improved, and established an accurate rice transplanter model.

41-48

Authors: Alexey Semyonovich; Sibirev, Aleksey Viktorovich; Aksenov, Alexander Gennadievich; Mosyakov, Maxim Alexandrovich

In the machine technology for cultivation and harvesting of root crops and onions, one of the most important quality indicators determining the duration of root crops storage is the presence of soil and plant impurities in the heap to be stored. The impossibility to separate soil lumps from the heap of root crops and onions is due to the fact that the majority of harvesters use slotted separating executive devices, while the inter-rod distance of the separating conveyor, in order to eliminate the loss of root crops, is made smaller than the minimum size of the separated root crop, which leads to the impossibility of their cleaning on the separating executive devices of harvesters, and, consequently, to the damage of a significant part of commercial products and loss of a significant part of the crop grown during storage. The modern technologies and technical means for harvesting root crops and onions are not capable of providing high-quality commercial products with minimal labour, due to falling behind or a lack of development of technological foundations, technologies and executive devices for harvesting root crops and onions, capable of reducing or excluding the content of soil lumps in commercial products under various soil and climatic conditions. Therefore, development of mechanization tools for harvesting root crops and onions, which would allow reducing or eliminating the content of mechanical impurities in commercial products under various soil and climatic conditions, is a scientific problem, the solution of which will contribute to the innovative development of the domestic agricultural market, Russia's stable position on the foreign market.

59-70

Authors: Xu, Zeying; Zou, Xiuguo; Yin, Zhengling; Zhang, Shikai; Song, Yuanyuan; Zhang, Jie; Lu, Jingxia

In winter, the poor ventilation conditions in broiler houses may lead to high ammonia concentration, which affects the health of yellow-feather broilers or even causes the death of many broilers. This research used a machine learning model to predict the ammonia concentration in a broiler house during winter. After analysis, it was found that the ammonia generation in the broiler house was a gradual accumulation featured by non-linear data. After the broilers entered the broiler house for several days, and the ammonia concentration reached a certain value, a ventilation system was used for regulating the concentration. Firstly, the back-propagation (BP) neural network model and gated recurrent unit (GRU) model were used for predicting the ammonia concentration, respectively. Then, ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) was performed on the time series data of ammonia concentration in the broiler house. After that, the EEMD-GRU prediction model has been established for the intrinsic mode function (IMF) components and the temperature and humidity data in the broiler house. Finally, all component results were summarized to obtain the final prediction result. A comparison was conducted among the prediction results obtained by the above three models. The results show that the root mean square errors of the above three models are 6.2 ppm, 4.4 ppm, and 2.4 ppm, respectively, and the average absolute errors were 4.9 ppm, 2.8 ppm, and 1.6 ppm, respectively. It could be seen that the EEMD-GRU model had higher accuracy in predicting the ammonia concentration in the broiler house. The EEMD-GRU model can effectively predict the ammonia concentration in broiler houses, facilitating the feedback to the central system for timely adjustment.

77-86

Authors: Liu, Fei; Li, Dapeng; Zhang, Tao; Lin, Zhen

An optimization method based on a regression model was established by combining physical experiments, and an extended distinct element method (EDEM) simulation was proposed to address the difficult problem of obtaining the contact characteristic parameters used in the discrete element method (DEM) model of quinoa grains and for calibrating the parameters of the quinoa DEM model. The Plackett-Burman test was designed using Design-Expert software to screen the parameters of the quinoa DEM model, and the quinoa-quinoa static friction coefficient, quinoa-polylactic acid (PLA) static friction coefficient and quinoa-quinoa rolling friction coefficient were found to have significant effects on the repose angle. The optimal value intervals of the parameters with a significant impact on the repose angle were determined using the steepest ascent test. A regression model of the repose angle and the parameters with a significant impact on the repose angle was then established with the Box-Behnken design and further optimized, and the combination of optimal parameters was as follows: 0.26 for the quinoa-quinoa static friction coefficient (E), 0.38 for the quinoa-PLA static friction coefficient (F), and 0.08 for the quinoa-quinoa rolling friction coefficient (G). Lastly, the optimal combination was used in the verification performed by the DEM simulation, and the error between the simulated repose angle and the target repose angle was 0.86%. These findings indicated that it was feasible to use the response surface optimization to calibrate the parameters required for quinoa DEM simulation and that the combination of optimal parameters can provide a reference for selecting the characteristic contact parameters used in quinoa DEM simulation.

97-104

Authors: Yan, Hongwen; Cui, Qingliang; Liu, Zhenyu

Individual pig identification technology is the precondition of precise breeding. Taking pig face as the study point, this article puts forward a pig face identification method based on improved AlexNet model and explores the influence of training batch size on the performance of the model. Spatial attention module (SAM) is introduced in AlexNet model to compare the performance of the AlexNet model and the improved model on the training set and the validation set. The study shows that the improved AlexNet model can achieve higher precision rate under different training batch sizes and has higher convergence rate and robustness, with an identification precision rate reaching 98.11%, and a recall rate and f1 value reaching 98.03% and 98.05%. When the training batch sizes are 16, 32, and 64 respectively, the test time of the model, which represents its operating efficiency, improves by 1.99%, 2.36% and 10.31%, respectively, showing better performance in pig face identification. The test results show that different batch sizes have a certain influence on the prediction results of the model, while no fixed relationship.

115-126

Authors: Chen, Yu; Chen, Jun; Li, Wei; Zhang, Shuo; Xia, Hui; Zhu, Yahui; Wang, Jiajun

According to the operation characteristics of high clearance self-propelled sprayer, an independent vertical shaft air suspension system with auxiliary chamber was designed. On the basis of the damping characteristic analysis and experiment of the air suspension with auxiliary chamber, the sprayer suspension control strategy was developed. Aiming at strong non-linearity and hysteresis for air suspension with auxiliary chamber, and when the sprayer performed road transportation and spraying operation, there was a contradiction between ride comfort and road friendliness, a hybrid sliding mode control method for sprayer chassis suspension based on skyhook reference sliding mode and ground-hook reference sliding mode was proposed. Finally, Matlab/Simulink was used to analyse the effect of the control method in different mixing coefficients. The simulation results showed that according to the requirements of different working conditions of the sprayer, by properly selecting the mixing coefficient γ value, the hybrid sliding mode control could simultaneously take into account the sprayer ride comfort and road friendliness, which was important to improve the sprayer overall performance and operating efficiency.

135-142

Authors: Qiu, Yi; Chen, Zhi; Hou, Zhanfeng; Liu, Haiyang; Guo, Fang; Dai, Nianzu

It is of great significance to acquire the soil surface roughness accurately for the study of the interaction between tractors and soil. Based on the laser sensor, this paper proposed the non-contact measuring instrument of the soil surface roughness with the data acquiring system by using Lab-View software. By using W-M theory, three commonly used fractal dimension calculation methods are compared and analyzed.. The result showed that the Root-mean-square method has the highest accuracy and clear physical meaning, which is ideal method to calculate the soil surface roughness characteristics. When the fractal dimension is between 1.4 and 1.6, the acquired data is analysed by the Root-mean-square method to obtain the fractal features of the soil surface roughness. The experiment results indicated that the fractal dimension of the ploughed surface is 1.39, that of disc harrow surface is 1.550, and that of rolled surface is 1.46-1.54. Obviously, the fractal dimension can accurately distinguish the soil surface roughness with the different treatments. However, the fractal dimension selected from different scales showed an obvious instability during calculations. The surface roughness index combined with the two parameters can effectively represent the soil surface roughness, and the larger the surface roughness index is, the greater the surface roughness is.

151-164

Authors: Bu, Ling Xin; Chen, Cheng Kun; Hu, Guang Rui; Sugirbay, Adilet; Chen, Jun

Apple harvesting in orchards is a challenging task due to its dependence on manual labour. In addition, the reduction in skilled farmers and increasing employee costs have popularized mechanical harvesting. As a highly optimal apple picking method, apple harvesting robots integrate machine vision, image processing, robot kinematics, and multi-sensor fusion. This article reviews the vision system and mechanical structure of apple harvesters and evaluates the performance of robotic apple harvester prototypes from 2010 to 2018. Moreover, horticultural adaptability is also discussed in order to facilitate the expansion of orchard structures suitable for mechanized operations. We find that to solve the difficulties faced by apple harvesters, the development of mechanized apple harvesting and modern orchard structure applications must be accelerated. Furthermore, research into anthropomorphic control strategies has the potential to optimize picking patterns, while improvements in environment reconstruction and semantic segmentation can improve harvesting efficiency. Finally, the challenges and strategies based on the development status of robotic apple harvester are also analysed. The review is intended to assist researchers in structure design, sensor choice and adaptability improvement of agricultural machinery and horticulture, and to influence the direction of the development of robotic apple harvester.

175-182

Authors: Hevko, R.B.; Tkachenko, I.G.; Khomyk, N.I.; Gumeniuk, Y.P.; Flonts, I.V.; Gumeniuk, O.О.;

The results of theoretical and experimental study of the process of root crops carrying by a conveyer-separator of a three-row trailed root crop harvester whose rubber belt with rods is equipped with scrapers and has a sign-variable direction of transportation to minimize the machine length have been described in the article. Some analytical dependencies describing the impact of design and kinematic parameters of the conveyer-separator on the root crops motion pattern have been given and analysed. The results of the research including the key factors identification affecting the process of root crops transportation on the curvilinear path between the conveyer-separator members are presented in the experimental part. The theoretical and experimental studies have been compared and the boundaries of the most efficient design and kinematic parameters choice of the conveyer-separator under discussion have been suggested.

193-198

Authors: Kupreenko, A.I.; Isaev, Kh.М.; Kuznetsov, Yu.A.; Mikhailichenko, S.М.; Kravchenko, I.N.; Kalashnikova, L.V.

A method for determining the duration of the process of preparation and distribution of feed mixtures by a mobile mixer on cattle farms, based on graph theory, is proposed. A generalized state graph of the mobile mixer is presented and its description is given. The final formula for calculating the probability of the mobile mixer being in the state of distribution of a feed mixture consisting of a different number of components is given. To check the method adequacy, time-lapse measurements were performed in production conditions. The projected durability of the mobile mixer was 92.3% (0.36 h) of the actual recorded time of 0.39 h.

209-216

Authors: Cujbescu, D.; Biriș, S.Șt.; Voicu, Gh.; Matache, M.; Paraschiv, G.; Vlăduţ, V.; Bularda, M.; Ungureanu, N.;

In order to obtain a correct and always reproducible image of the performances achieved by a planter (or any agricultural machine), laboratory tests are required, under specified conditions, well controlled, to determine the precision of sowing outside the optimal agricultural periods. The paper presents a theoretical model for estimating sowing precision (feed quality index) as a polynomial function of the second degree, dependent on seed norm per hectare, working speed, depression value, mass of 1000 seeds, as well as combinations thereof.

225-232

Authors: Wei, Wang; Gong, Yuan Juan

Biomass particle is one of the most important solid briquette fuels for agricultural and forestry biomass energy. Temperature, pressure, moisture and discharge holes are important factors to control biomass particle forming. The inappropriate setting of the parameters or blocking of the discharge hole will lead to the defects of the biomass particles, such as too short or poor roundness or pits or cracks. In order to detect these defects automatically, this paper proposes a method based on K-Means with prior knowledge. Firstly, the inner boundary tracking region detection algorithm and filling algorithm are combined to extract the regions in the backlight image. The regions are divided into debris, independent biomass particle regions and adhesive biomass particle regions. Secondly, K-Means with prior knowledge is used to segment the adhesive regions to get the independent biomass particle regions. Finally, the features of the biomass particles are extracted to judge the type of defects. The proposed method has been tested on images acquired from the vision system of the ring roller pellet mill. Experimental results show the efficiency of the proposed method in high detection accuracy and short detection time.

241-250

Authors: Jin, Min; Wang, Chunguang; Wang, Pengpeng

Grid independence verification was implemented to improve the reliability of CFD numerical simulation in pigsty. The effects of four different grid numbers on airflow and temperature simulation of 0.4m, 1.0m and 1.6m heights were compared. The results showed that the third method of mesh generation and the grid numbers about 2.09 million were more suitable for this pigsty model. The average relative error of airflow velocity and temperature between the simulated and the measured alues were 7.1% and 3.8% respectively, the average NMSE were 0.0012 and 0.0066 respectively. Therefore, grid independence verification is of great significance for CFD numerical simulation.

263-272

Authors: Jianjian, Tai; Haitao, Li; Yuefeng, Du; Enrong, Mao; Junnan, Zhang; Xinjiani, Long

In the design process of maize combine harvester in China, there are characteristics of customization and high demand for diversification. Aiming at the problems of long design and development cycle, the structural design method of maize combine harvester header based on knowledge engineering is put forward, and the header of maize combine harvester is designed rapidly. Firstly, based on the design standards and specifications of agricultural machinery, the general design process of maize ear harvester header is determined. Secondly, according to the design knowledge and experience, the design method of the core parts of the header is determined, and an example model is established. Finally, based on the platform of MFC and Creo, integrating the design knowledge base, inference engine and parametric model, a rapid design system of maize ear harvester header is constructed. The rapid design of maize ear harvester header is realized, and the design and development efficiency of maize ear harvester header is improved so as to provide technical reference and support for improving the intelligent level of typical complex agricultural machinery equipment in China.

281-292

Authors: Yu, Na; Wang, Qing; Cao, Shichao

In order to recognize the road effectively, agricultural robots mainly rely on the tracking and detection data of road obstacles. Traditional obstacle detection mainly studies how to use multiple fusion methods such as vision and laser to analyse structured and simplified indoor scenes. The working environment of agricultural robots is a typical unstructured outdoor environment. Therefore, based on the environmental characteristics of agricultural robot navigation, the mean displacement algorithm is introduced to detect and study the obstacles aiming at the road edge. After explaining the advantages and principle flow of the mean displacement algorithm to effectively realize motion capture, the feasibility of target location and tracking research is discussed. After that, the bottom data acquisition and analysis model is constructed based on the road navigation data of agricultural robots. To capture the movement obstacles of road edge and build the foundation of road recognition technology. In order to improve the effectiveness of motion obstacle capture and detection, a moving target detection algorithm is proposed to optimize and update the mean displacement algorithm, and constructs a feature-oriented hybrid algorithm motion capture model. The simulation results indicate that the proposed optimization model can effectively improve the tracking efficiency of non-rigid targets in outdoor environment, and the number of evaluation iterations can reach 3.5621 times per frame, which shows that the research has good theoretical and practical value.

305-314

Authors: Guan, Zhuohuai; Zhang, Zhou; Jiang, Tao; Li, Ying; Wu, Chongyou; Mu, Senlin

Aiming at real time rotation speed control of threshing drum and cleaning fan for combine harvester, a stepless speed regulation mechanism was developed. Test show that the adjustable range of fan was 600～1150 r/min, average adjustment speed was 9.2 r/s, the absolute error of stable speed was less than 0.72 r/min. The average speed response time was 1.33s, the overshoot was less than 8 r/s. The adjustable range of the drum was 700～1100 r/min and the average adjustment speed was 2.1 r/s. The absolute error of stable speed did not exceed 0.62 r/min, and the maximum relative deviation was 0.38%

323-338

Authors: Bularda, M.; Vişinescu, I.; Ghiorghe, A.; Vlăduţ, V.; Cujbescu, D.;

In this paper was performed a thorough analysis of the effects of the conservative system of mechanized works, minimum-till (hard disc and scarifier) and no till (direct sowing), compared to the classic system (ploughing), highlighting the influences on soil and plants, the ways to reduce the technological costs, the improvement of soil quality indices, by accumulating organic matter and increasing humus supply, the need to reduce the traffic of mechanical equipment and opportunities to reduce fuel consumption, the improvement of conditions for retaining and capitalizing water reserves in the soil, the reduction of working hours and labour requirements.

19-28

Authors: Badretdinov, Ildar; Mudarisov, Salavat; Lukmanov, Ramil; Ibragimov, Radik; Permyakov, Valeri; Tuktarov, Marat

The purpose of this work is a mathematical description of sieve frame structural and technological parameters necessary for the implementation of the technological process model of a grain cleaning machine operation. The paper presents the results of the study of the grain cleaning machine sieve frame operation. A kinematic study of a flat swivel multi-link mechanism of the grain cleaning machine sieve frame was made. The method of determining the coordinates of the sieve frame nodal points was developed to calculate their speed. Structural and technological parameters of the mechanism were also studied.

37-44

Authors: Kukharets, Savelii; Golub, Gennadii; Skydan, Oleh; Yarosh, Yaroslav; Kukharets, Mikolai

On the basis of the Bernoulli equation the dependence for determining the air flow rate in the oxidation zone of the gasifier was obtained. The obtained dependence makes it possible to theoretically establish the average speed and diameter of the air flow depending on the flow length. To check and clarify the obtained dependence for determining the air flow rate in the oxidation zone, the value of the total loss coefficient of the air flow rate in the volume of straw pellets, which are used as fuel for the gasifier, is experimentally established.

53-60

Authors: Boyko, Galina; Tikhosova, Hanna; Ternova, Tatiana

The paper presents the results of theoretical and experimental studies aimed at optimizing the decortication process of industrial hemp stems. In order to achieve this goal, physical and mechanical properties of industrial hemp straw stems were investigated, with the choice of the main quality indicator - diameter, which directly influences the bast output. Also, with the help of mathematical planning of the experiment, the optimal treatment mode for the stems of industrial hemp with clearing of wood of 5-6% was calculated.

71-78

Authors: Liang, X.C.; Zhang, M.; Tian, S.C.

The composite rice straw-cement brick is analysed with simulations and experiments using mechanical and heat transfer theory, and data demonstrate excellent characteristic of such brick including heat retaining, light weight and fire resistance, which is beneficial to save the precious clay resource, reduce energy consumption during production and enhance the safety and comfort of high-rise building. In the future, the processing of such brick should be optimized, and this new type of manufacturing apparatus is expected to be designed to satisfy the requirements of commercial application.

89-98

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

An eccentric swing combing device was designed on the basis of the growth characteristics of Cerasus humilis in mature stage in this work to improve the removal rate and reduce the damage rate. The device adopted a swing mechanism to realize comb rod entry from the roots of branches and an eccentric mechanism to realize horizontal combing. The kinematic equation and the main affecting factors of the combing effect were obtained through the kinematic and dynamic analyses of the combing device. Rotation speed, feeding speed, and comb swing angle were considered the influencing factors, and removal and damage rates were taken as the evaluation indexes. We conducted an experiment of quadratic orthogonal rotation centre combination with three factors and five levels on the combing device. Results showed that the contribution rate of each factor to the removal and damage rates was in the order of feeding speed, rotation speed and comb swing angle. The best combination of parameters was obtained as follows: rotating speed of 11.26 r/min, feeding speed of 0.227 m/s, and comb swing angle of 5°. The removal and damage rates were 95.21% and 4.56%, respectively, under this parameter combination. The relative error with the predicted result was less than 5%. This study can effectively improve the effect of C. humilis fruit removal and provide reference for further design of C. humilis harvesting machinery.

115-122

Authors: V., Yaroshevsky; V., Bulgakov; S., Ivanovs; V., Krutyakova; V., Belchenko; J., Olt

In the production of biological preparations for agriculture there are promising jet bioreactors with an external circulation ring, providing intense mixing of the medium along with a high degree of aeration. However, application of these bioreactors is limited by large shear loads on the microorganisms (microorganism cells) arising in the circulation pump. The article deals with one of the ways for solving this problem by using a low-capacity pump for the circulation of the fermentation medium according to a non-standard scheme of medium jet aeration in order to intensify the mass exchange processes. There are presented results of physical simulation of the mixing parameters of flows in an aerator-jet mixer and their impact upon the intensity of metabolic processes in the circulation ring of a bioreactor.

129-136

Authors: Sun, Deng; Cui, Qingliang; Zhang, Yanqing; Hou, Huaming

This work designed a 2BDE-2 type millet fine and small-amount electric seeder to solve certain problems, such as difficult cultivation and large workload of millet in hilly and mountainous areas. This seeder can finish the sowing operations, such as ditching, fine and small-amount of seed discharging, covering soil and suppressing at one time. The central composite design method was used to test the seeding performance of the seeder along with the factors of the seed metering plate amplitude and operating speed. This task was undertaken to determine the optimal working parameters of the seeder. The mathematical model of the average number of seeds in each 100 mm section and the variation coefficient of seeding uniformity were established. The influence of single factor effects and interaction on the seeding performance was also analysed. The optimum combination after parameter optimisation was determined as follows: seed metering plate amplitude of 109 μm and seeder operating speed of 0.76 m/s. The field sowing experiment was conducted according to the parameter combination. Results showed that the average number of seeds in each 100 mm section was 7.8, and the variation coefficient of seeding uniformity was 19.64%. The relative errors with the predicted values were 1.28% and 4.98%. The research can be used for sowing a small amount of millet in the hilly mountain area.

147-154

Authors: Hou, Zhanfeng; Qiu, Yi; Chen, Zhi; Liu, Haiyang; Guo, Fang; Mi, Longkai

In order to solve the poor pelleting quality of Agropyron seeds, this paper designs a novel pelleting experimental platform. A regression mathematical model of pelleting qualified rate and single seed rate was established and analysed by variance. The results showed that vibration had significant effect on pelleting quality. The order of influence is as follows: rotating speed>vibration frequency> tilt angle of coater. When the speed is 41.7 r/min, the vibration frequency is 20.28 Hz, and the tilt angle is 34.89 °, the pelleting qualified rate and the single seed rate are the highest, 83.1% and 94.9% respectively

163-172

Authors: Wang, Juxia; Jiang, Bingyao; Xu, Shuanghua; Cui, Qingliang; Zheng, Decong

The texture of apple peel, as an important quality attribute of the fruit, is directly relevant to a fruit’s ability to resist mechanical injury. In order to explore the variations in texture of two apple peels under different puncture test conditions and evaluate the relation of apple peel puncture force to whole fruit firmness percentage, at 0.1, 1, 5, 11, and 17 mm/s loading speeds, puncture mechanical measurements were performed using an electronic testing machine mounted with 2, 3.5, 7.9 or 11 mm-diameter probes. For the same probe, the mean values of peel puncture force and stiffness, as well as the fruit puncture force, for Danxia and Fuji cultivars increased firstly and then changed a little with the increase of loading speed. Moreover, at the same loading speed, the puncture measurements of each cultivar increased significantly ( ) with increasing probe diameter and the peel puncture force has a significant linear correlation with probe diameter. Among the different cultivars, under the same loading speed, the Fuji peel and fruit samples had the greater puncture force; the Fuji peel contribution change was relatively big with the increasing of loading speed, and Fuji cultivar was more likely to be injured than the other cultivar. The results were expected to serve as a reference for investigating the puncture injury sensitivity of different apple varieties during transportation and storage and to enrich the texture evaluation index of apple peel.

183-192

Authors: Jiangtao, Ji; Jingpeng, Hu; Shengsheng, Wang; Ruihong, Zhang; Jing, Pang

In order to explore the interaction between the axial-flow threshing unit and the agricultural materials, the vibration signal of the axial-flow threshing unit and the stress signal of the internal threshing tooth under the dynamic threshing condition were detected by using the three-way acceleration sensors and the resistance strain gauges. The results show that under the dynamic threshing condition, the amplitude of the vibration signal along the axial direction of the threshing unit experienced a small change, but changed greatly at the feeding direction of materials and vertical direction of fixed bearings, which was mainly caused by the internal impact between the threshing unit and the materials; Under the impact of materials, the threshing element of each measuring point has a continuous peak value of stress signal, and the stress signals gradually decreased along the axial direction. This study further reveals the interaction mechanism between axial-flow threshing unit and materials from the perspective of vibration and impact, and provides new methods for the development of condition detection technology of grain harvesting equipment.

201-210

Authors: Yang, Cheng; Wang, Ping; Bao, Yan

In order to solve the problem of difficult pre-processing of crop video image shadows, a probable learning pixel classification method is proposed to study its processing technology. The algorithm effectively detects the shadow area by performing intelligent video collaborative detection on the shaded parts of the crop video sequence. Firstly, the cloud collaborative detection algorithm that can be widely used in agriculture was proposed. The video key frame was obtained and the background modeling algorithm with strong adaptability to crop illumination was applied to realize real-time detection of the target, so as to construct the crop pixel model. Finally, the proposed algorithm and the constructed model are applied to the processing of shadows of agricultural plant video images for experimental verification. The results show that in video frames 47, 194 and 258, the probable learning pixel classification method can be used to determine the shaded part of each frame, which can greatly improve the detection accuracy of crop shadows. The research in this paper shows that the probability learning pixel classification method can better enhance the shadow robustness and accuracy of crop video images.

221-232

Authors: Niu, Po; Chen, Jian; Hu, Chenjun; Zhao, Jindou

Now the engine mini-tiller has become indispensable agricultural machinery in vast hilly and mountainous areas of Southwest China. Many researches have been made to improve its operating comfort, but little effects have been obtained. As an alternative, a new type of electric mini-tiller was developed. For further improvement of its operating comfort, simulation analysis and field test were integrated to decrease the vertical force and vibration RMS values at the handle. The results showed that when the position of centre of gravity moved 19.78 cm, the vertical force was reduced from 154.24 N to 0 N, and vibration RMS values decreased by 20.16% under working condition.

241-252

Authors: Ling, Wang

Agricultural irrigation is a very important link in agricultural production, but in the current situation of water shortage, reasonable control of agricultural water supply can not only achieve the purpose of irrigation, but also save water resources to the maximum extent. Therefore, this paper studies the agricultural water supply control system and its related circuits. According to the actual situation of agricultural irrigation, based on the nine-point controller in logic control, a control system of agricultural water supply based on nine-point controller is designed, and also the corresponding control circuit. The control system is verified by experiments. The results show that the control system circuit can meet the operation requirements under extreme conditions and has high stability. The experimental results of the control system show that the whole control system is obviously superior to the traditional PID control system, while the actual application results show that the whole control system has a good response and can control the water supply system in real time according to the actual situation of agricultural irrigation.

261-268

Authors: Trokhaniak, O.M.; Hevko, R.B.; Lyashuk, O.L.; Dovbush, T.A.; Pohrishchuk, B.V., Dobizha, N.V.

The article presents the results of theoretical and experimental studies of the process of moving bulk material in the inactive zone between hinged screw sections of a flexible screw conveyor. The influence of the gap between the edges of adjacent screw sections and the magnitude of their circular displacement on the process of continuous transportation of bulk material is presented. The results of theoretical and experimental studies are compared. This will allow choosing the optimal design, kinematic and technological parameters of the developed sectional screw working body when transporting bulk agricultural materials along curved paths, both in horizontal and inclined directions, as well as along curved paths.

275-286

Authors: Zhang, Hong Jian; Li, Yu Feng; Xu, Chun Bao; Liu, Shuang Xi; Quan, Ze Kun; Wang, Jin Xing

Discrete Element Method was used to study the fertilizer guiding mechanism of double-row orchard ditching fertilizer to solve certain problems, such as the low uniformity of fertilization in orchard. Firstly, on the basis of studying the existing B fertilizer guiding mechanism, A and C fertilizer guiding mechanisms were proposed, and three virtual simulation models of the fertilizer guiding mechanism were established. Secondly, the physical parameters of the fertilizer particles were analysed, combined with the dynamic analysis of the falling process of the fertilizer particles, the dynamic model of the fertilizer particles in the three fertilizer guiding mechanisms was established. Finally, three kinds of fertilizer guiding mechanisms A, B and C were analyzed by the discrete element simulation experiment, and the C fertilizer guiding mechanism was the best. Then, the C fertilizer guiding mechanisms under different curvature radius were simulated, the discrete coefficients of the edge region and the middle region were used to evaluate the fertilizer uniformity, and the optimal curvature radius of the C fertilizer guiding mechanism was obtained. The results of simulation and prototype orchard experiments show that the dispersion coefficients of the edge region and the middle region of the C fertilizer guiding mechanism are the smallest, the uniformity of fertilization is the highest, the A fertilizer guiding mechanism is the second, the B fertilizer guiding mechanism is the lowest; in the C fertilizer guiding mechanism under different radius of curvature, when the radius of curvature is 600mm, the dispersion coefficients of the edge region and the middle region of the C fertilizer guiding mechanism are the smallest, and the fertilization uniformity is the highest; after the optimization, the discrete coefficient is reduced from 0.51 to 0.26, and the fertilization uniformity is increased by 49.02%. This study has significant potential to design and processing of orchard ditching fertilizer applicator.

295-302

Authors: Moise V., Voicu Gh., Lazea M., Stoica D., Popa L., Tudor P., Ungureanu L.

In the paper is done the kinetic analysis of the mechanism for municipal solid waste takeover and precompaction, of specific equipment for its collection and transport. The corresponding dimensioning of the actuation mechanism elements shall be made only after the determination of the forces and moments acting on them. The determination of the forces and moments acting on the elements of the mechanism is done by kinetostatic analysis. For the kinetostatic analysis of the mechanism, the applied and inertial forces in the centres of gravity of the elements are reduced, after which the procedures made for each structural group in the composition of the mechanism are applied. Finally, the driving forces are obtained to be applied in the translational couplings (hydraulic cylinders) for setting the mechanism in motion. For the accuracy of the calculation, the driving forces are determined by the virtual exponents’ method too.

311-322

Authors: Zheng, Jiaxin; Fang, Jiameng; Zhao, Yuqing; Zhao, Yong; Yang, Zhi; Chen, Rong

Based on the technical characteristics of double-row ridge planting, a double V-shaped opener with the furrow compaction function was designed. This opener with the sliding knife and profiling mechanism was capable of furrow opening, compacting and profiling, and thereby created excellent seedbeds with tight bottom and soft soils. Through sunlight greenhouse tests, the effects of the double V-shaped opener on seedbed characteristics and soybean emergence were studied under the compaction forces of T1 (0 N), T2 (500 N), T3 (600 N) and T4 (700 N). The furrow compaction planting significantly affected the seedbed characteristics and soybean emergence and could preserve soil moisture in seedbeds. Under the semiarid condition, the average emergence time under T2 was 0.79 day earlier than under T1, and the emergence rates under T2, T3 and T4 were significantly raised. The seedling height uniformity under T2 was 5.34% higher than under T1. The average emergence time ranked from early to later as T3

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.