INMATEH - Agricultural Engineering

23-32

Authors: Mario CRISTEA, Mihai Gabriel MATACHE, Claudia IONIŢĂ, Lucian Andrei PERIŞOARĂ, Robert Dorin CRISTEA, Vlad Nicolae ARSENOAIA

The research carried out in this paper aimed to create a communication network for a fleet of agricultural vehicles by means of which to transmit and receive information on the status of work, working time, processed areas, number of machines used and much more necessary information. Communication is based on GSM and WiFi standards, which bring the most secure security standards in data protection to this network. The major advantage of the solution presented is that all the important information is concentrated in one place. The proposed communication system consists of a mobile device that routes the WiFi network on a GSM network that has a minimum 3G standard but also works with 5G, depending on the GSM operator and the devices that are mounted on vehicles, which communicate over the WiFi network. The communication device was mounted on an electric tractor, where it was powered by the tractor's power source. In this communication architecture, the vehicle transmitted information to a control centre and also to other vehicles in the vicinity. The system was able to receive data from other devices, authorized in the system, which could be fixed in the field. The collected data were transmitted to a server in a remote location. The obtained results showed a decrease of signal strength while getting further away from the tractor, with good results up to 100 m radius.

41-52

Authors: Zhu ZHAO, Zhongnan WANG, Bintong ZHAO, Yuqiu SONG, Mingjin XIN

At present, the quality of chopping stalks with the use of a corn combine harvester needs improvement. Therefore, this study aims at designing a hob-type stalk chopping device to be installed under the header which can realize multiple groups of parallel longitudinal arrangements. Moreover, the device will be able to cut and crush the root and the middle and upper parts of the stalks. The performance of a finite element analysis corroborated the satisfactory strength and stiffness of the designed chopping blade as the mechanical requirements. Moreover, the influencing working and structural parameters were determined using a theoretical analysis. Regarding the test factors, i.e., the tip angle of the blades, fixed angle and the rotational speed of chopper shaft, single-factor and central composite design tests were also performed. Furthermore, the percentage of the qualified length of chopped stalk and the power consumption of cutting stalk were taken as the evaluation indexes. Accordingly, the results revealed the influencing parameters to be ordered as the spindle speed > fixed angle > tip angle of the blades. Subsequently, the parameters were optimized using the response surface method. Based on the obtained results, the optimized parameters including the spindle speed, the fixed angle and the tip angle of the blades were specified as 1050 r/min, 56°, and 40°, respectively. The experimental validation was also carried out on the optimal combination of the parameters. The qualified lengths of the chopped stalks were found to be 92.9%, which were consistent with the predicted results of the model. Hence, the test results met the design requirements.

67-76

Authors: Zongwei JIA, Jing HAO, Yiming HOU, Ruibin WANG, Ruyi ZHANG, Simin YAO

Apple planting process is often accompanied by the impact of a variety of diseases. A single apple leaf often presents the situation of multiple diseases occurring at the same time, which brings great challenges to fruit farmers' rapid diagnosis and correct control. In this paper, aiming at the rapid detection and recognition of multi-category apple leaf disease, a multi-target detection model is constructed to realize the rapid detection and recognition of single leaf and multi leaf, single disease and multi disease. Through the technical means of manual labeling, data enhancement and parameter optimization, Yolo v4, SSD and Efficientdet are selected to train and evaluate the apple leaf disease data set. The results show that the target detection model based on Yolo v4 achieves better training effect, and its mAP value is 83.34%. The model can meet the needs of rapid disease spot detection and recognition of single leaf single disease and multi leaf multi disease in natural environment.

85-94

Authors: Xuefeng DENG, Song ZHANG, Yi SHAO, Xiaoli YAN

With the development of modern breeding industry, it is very important to count sheep accurately. In the past, herdsmen used manual statistics to count and manage sheep, which was time-consuming, laborious and often had large errors. In recent years, machine learning methods are widely used in automatic target recognition, which can replace manual labor. This system is based on YOLOv5 algorithm for sheep counting management. The counting of sheep was controlled by two - way counting. This improves the accuracy of counting, saves a lot of manpower and material resources for herdsmen, and greatly promotes the management of animal husbandry.

106-116

Authors: Jizhou ZHENG, Yanpeng LI, Lan ZHANG, Xinyu XUE

In order to analyze the influence of liquid sloshing on roll stability of the sprayer, the equivalent mechanical model of liquid sloshing was introduced. A multi-degree-of-freedom model of the sprayer was established that includes the effect of liquid sloshing. An E-level road spectrum was constructed based on sinusoid superposition method according to the grade of the field ground unevenness, and the roll stability of the sprayer under these excitations was investigated. The effects of liquid filling ratio and driving speed were analyzed. The results show that the roll angle decreases with the increase of filling ratio at low speed, but the situation is opposite at high speed. The vertical acceleration of the vehicle body decreases to some extent under some situations due to the presence of the liquid. In general, both the roll angle and the vertical acceleration increase with the increase of the driving speed, especially in the case of existing liquid sloshing.

128-136

Authors: Xinchao GAO, Jianmin DU, Yuge BI, Weiqiang PI, Xiangbing ZHU, Yanbin ZHANG

In hyperspectral remote sensing images, desert steppe vegetation, bare soil, and rat holes appear as micro-patches. The spectral feature analysis of micro-patches is the basis for identification and classification and also the basis for quantitative remote sensing monitoring of ground objects. Inner Mongolia desert steppe micro-patch as the research object extracts the spectral reflectance of different micro-patches, performs various vegetation index calculations, quantitatively analyzes the spectral characteristics of different micro-patches, and proposes a micro-patch spectral analysis method. Classification of high-resolution hyperspectral images of desert steppe surface micropatches. The results show that: (1) There are pronounced differences in the spectral reflectance of the three types of surface micro-patches. The vegetation has apparent characteristics in the green wave reflection peak and the red wave absorption valley. The spectral reflectance of the bare soil is higher than that of the mouse hole, and the two have been increasing. The trend is increasing slowly; (2) The proposal and application of the MSA index can effectively realize the identification and classification of surface micropatches, and the Kappa coefficient has reached 0.906 through confusion matrix verification. The above spectral analysis method realizes the classification and identification of complex ground objects using near-ground remote sensing images. It provides new ideas and methods for accurate quantitative statistics of desert grassland ecological information.

147-154

Authors: Eugen MARIN, Gabriel-Valentin GHEORGHE, Carmen BĂLȚATU, Marinela MATEESCU

The paper presents the design process of a Venturi injector, by checking and choosing a type of material with physical-mechanical properties necessary to obtain the best possible results during the work process. The injector is part of the solution recovery system from the vineyard spraying machine and was made with the FDM manufacturing technology by selectively depositing of molten material in a predetermined path, layer by layer. Materials used were ABSpro™, MagicFil™ Thermo PLA and Onyx. The presented results allow useful recommendations for the making of other components of agricultural machines using 3D modeling and printing technology.

166-175

Authors: Juyong ZHANG, Minquan ZHOU, Kai HE, Minkang GUO, Guohao LI, Rong LI

Aiming at the difficult problem of contact sampling of plant in complex geographical environment, a remote-controlled sampling method using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) is proposed. After configuration, mechanism parameter analysis & optimization, and dynamic analysis, a special lightweight sampling manipulator that integrates plant stem-and-leaf sample capture, cutting and storage is designed. The designed sampling manipulator is composed of a ball screw nut transmission pair and a symmetrical double-offset slider rocker. The minimum transmission angle of the rocker is 63.435°, the maximum opening displacement of the manipulator claw is 131 mm, and the cutting pressure is 226 N. Tests and experiments show that the sample manipulator has a mass of 2.35 kg, a cutting pressure of 214 N, and a maximum open displacement of the manipulator claws of 126 mm. It can be controlled locally or remotely using a UAV to grab, cut and storage plant samples with a diameter greater than 5 mm. The reliability of the sampling manipulator design and the feasibility of the sampling method are verified.

182-190

Authors: Yanhong LIU, Hua YANG, Xindong GUO, Yanwen LI, Zhiwei HU, Yiming HOU, Hongxia SONG

Early diagnosis and accurate identification of fine-grained tomato diseases can control the spread of diseases and insect infections, thus ensuring the healthy development of the tomato industry. In this paper, four lightweight models of Tiny-AlexNet and Mid-AlexNet based on AlexNet and Tiny-VGG16 and Mid-VGG16 based on VGG16 were proposed for 5 kinds of early and late leaf diseases such as tomato powdery mildew. The computation speed of the model is accelerated by reducing the number of neurons in the fully connected layer. In order to avoid degradation in network training, data extension technology is introduced to prevent model overfitting. Among them, the Mid-VGG16 model is significantly better than accurate in early disease recognition, thus verifying the effectiveness of the lightweight model. The proposed model not only improves the accuracy, but also reduces the test time. The results were tested across 20 655 data sets on early and advanced disease. Compared with the traditional model, the average prediction accuracy of the proposed model is improved by about 0.15%, and the detection time is significantly reduced by about 50%. The improved model has strong robustness and high stability. The model can be used to accurately identify early diseases and facilitate real-time detection and prevention of tomato diseases.

201-210

Authors: Victor AULIN, Andrej PANKOV, Grigorij NECHAEV, Helen BIBIK, Vasiliy ERMAK, Alexey KUKHAREV, Dmitriy OSTAPUSHCHENKO, Oleg VORONOV

Current experimental and theoretical methods of research of jet elements used in agricultural means of mechanization are considered in the article. The work processes and aerodynamic flows in power jet elements have been researched on the basis of simulation modeling in ANSYS Fluent software environment. Elements for application in seeding systems of sowing machines were developed as a result of modeling. Dimensional, power characteristics and operation modes were optimized in the developed elements. Application of new jet elements produced as a result of modeling provides improvement of technical and economic characteristics of seeding systems and sowing machines.

221-232

Authors: Krasimir TRENDAFILOV, Galin TIHANOV

Analytical relations for determining the headland width when making T-turns by a machine-tractor unit with a mounted machine on an irregularly-shaped field have been specified. Five types of T-turns are described in two variants – open turn and closed turn. Each of these is done in two directions of movement. A total of 20 variants of the turns are described. The method for determining the headland width of a specific machine-tractor unit consisting by a tractor and mounted row seeder is demonstrated. For each type of turn the headland width is determined according to the angle between the direction of movement of the agricultural unit and the field border. A range of angle modification from 10° to 90° is adopted. The analysis show that for obtaining minimum headland width closed turns in left to right direction of movement should not be made. The smallest theoretical headland width is when making a closed T-turn with arch-shaped backward movement and left-to-right direction of movement on the field. When using T-turns with an arch-shaped backward movement and T-turns with straight ahead movement when entering the headland, the actual headland width is the same (6 m) regardless of the type and direction of the turn.

243-250

Authors: Daniel LYUBENOV, Zhivko KOLEV, Seher KADIROVA, Georgi KADIKYANOV

The paper presents investigation of the temperature and heating velocity during rebuilding (reconditioning) of worn-out agricultural machinery parts by automatic electric arc weld deposition. The temperature has been measured in a control section located at exact distance from the deposited coatings in order to study heating in areas of the parts which don’t need to be treated. The obtained graphical results for the specified parameters are used to select an appropriate scheme for the implementation of the process, from the point of view of reducing the thermal influence on the rebuilt machine parts.

259-268

Authors: Tiejun WANG, Yan YU, Qingchen TANG, Hongguang CUI

The measurement and control system of Eriocheir sinensis, the Chinese mitten crab, could increase its survival rate and quality effectively. Based on the analysis and design of the system, the parameter ranges for major factors of water quality during crab breeding process were determined. Sensors of pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and temperature were used to detect the value of pH, DO, and temperature. LabVIEW, a virtual instrument technology, was used to monitor water quality parameters during crab breeding process, thereby controlling the relay of inlet valve, water valve and oxygen valve by comparing the actual figures with normal parameter. This technology was used to perform the adjustment of water quality parameters respectively to achieve automatic control. In order to test the performance of the system, the monitoring time, stocking density and planting density were taken as experiment factors, and the error rate of the monitoring index was taken as evaluation index. The verification experiment results show that pH, DO and temperature monitoring errors were less than 10%, under the maximum constraint conditions of experiment factors, which meet the design requirements.

278-284

Authors: Ionel-Lucian DUMITRESCU, Daniela VERINGA, Mihai Gabriel MATACHE, Laurentiu Constantin VLADUTOIU

As in the case of humans, in the case of plants grown in protected areas, specific microclimate conditions must be ensured for their optimal development during the growing season. The development of plants is the result of their own genetic characteristics, but this is influenced by the microclimate conditions in the environment in which they grow. In the growing areas, the specific microclimate conditions must be strictly monitored. On the other hand, in the context of climate change and urbanization, there has been a need to develop specialized modules for vegetable production. Growing vegetables on urban farms is an increasingly used concept internationally. In this sense, a team of researchers from the INMA and HORTING Institutes in Bucharest - Romania has developed a collaborative project, which aims to investigate the main microclimate parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, CO2 concentration and light radiation intensity inside a prototype urban farm for research, in which green vegetables and microplants can be grown. Due to the complexity of the phenomena that take place in the closed spaces of culture, the amount of information necessary for the complete quantification of the variables of microclimate factors depends both on the intensity of the thermo-physical processes and on the accuracy of the measuring instruments used. This paper presents the preliminary results of the investigation of the main microclimate parameters within the experimental module. This module is a good laboratory tool that could be used in a series of research on the influence of light radiation on certain characteristics of microplants or vegetable seedlings. Analyzing the influence of the light radiation that reaches the plants, it can be seen that they have a great influence on the way they grow.

293-305

Authors: Qi LU, Decong ZHENG, Lihong LI, Yun LIU

In order to comprehensively evaluate the best pressure and sowing depth conditions suitable for oat growth under dry farming, a sowing pressure experimental device was designed. The calculation methods of pressure strength of different types of press wheels were analyzed. The experiment calibrated the corresponding counterweight under different suppression strengths. A three-factor and three-level orthogonal experiment was carried out with pressure strength, sowing depth and press wheel type as factors and oat emergence rate, dry matter accumulation at seedling stage and yield as main evaluation indexes. The results showed that the press wheel type had extremely significant effects on oat emergence rate, stem and leaf dry matter quality, total dry matter quality at seedling stage and yield, and had significant effects on root dry matter at seedling stage. The pressure strength had significant effects on the emergence rate and root dry matter quality of oat at seedling stage, and had extremely significant effects on stem and leaf dry matter quality, total dry matter quality at seedling stage and yield. Sowing depth had significant effects on seedling emergence rate, root dry matter quality, stem and leaf dry matter quality, total dry matter quality, and had extremely significant effects on yield. The optimum sowing conditions of oat are as follows: pressure strength is 50 kPa, sowing depth is 5 cm, and press wheel type is conical combined wheel. The results of this study could provide certain references for the design of oat high-yield mechanical sowing technology, oat seeder and press device.

314-322

Authors: Peng ZHANG, Hu ZHANG, Jinming LI, Chunlin TAN, Jiaxi ZHANG

The lack of accurate simulation model parameters of cotton straw in the conveying process causes large differences between simulation effects and actual operation, which to a certain extent limits the development of conveying devices. In this paper, Xinjiang cotton straw was used as the test material. The angle of repose of cotton straw was measured by the cylinder lifting method. The Hertz-Mindlin no-slip model was applied to simulate the angle of repose of cotton straw. Using Box-Behnken optimization research and development of key components such as the cotton straw preparation test, the regression equation of cotton straw was obtained, and the variance and interaction effect of the regression model analysis. The regression model was used to find the optimal solution in Design-Expert software with the angle of repose of 28.62º, the collision recovery coefficient between cotton straws was 0.5, the static friction factor was 0.41, and the rolling friction factor was 0.06, and the collision recovery coefficient between cotton straw and steel was 0.5, the static friction factor was 0.37, and the rolling friction factor was 0.08, with an angle of repose error of 1.04%. It shows that the contact parameters are highly reliable and can be used to propose a theoretical reference for the development of cotton straw conveying device in Xinjiang region.

331-340

Authors: Serhii STEPANENKO, Mykhailo ANELIAK, Alvian KUZMYCH, Serhii KUSTOV, Viktor LYSANIUK

The relevance of research is conditioned upon the need to improve the efficiency of plot combines for harvesting sunflower seed crops. Experimental studies were carried out by planning and staging multifactorial experiments. The dependence of the force factors influence on the seed shedding from a sunflower basket was obtained based on the laboratory studies results. This dependence makes it possible to evaluate the influence of the parameters of the harvester header on the value of seed losses from shedding. The study made it possible to substantiate the design of the header attachment of the plot combine, consisting of a three-blade reel, box-type dividers and side shields. An experimental sample of the header attachment to the “Sampo-500” grain harvester has been developed and manufactured. Experimental studies of the influence of the speed of the combine movement and the coefficient of the operation kinematic mode of the reel to the developed device on the quality indicators of the harvesting of sunflower crops seeds were carried out.

353-363

Authors: Qichao LI, Jinlong FENG, Wei JIANG

The capability of existing precision seeding for soybean narrow row seeder is limited, to address these limitations; we designed a seed metering device. In this study, the structure and working principle of a precision seed metering device was analyzed, and the structural parameters of the seed counterbore seeding wheel for the seed metering device was designed and optimized. Field tests were carried out with the working speed, forward speed, and inclined angle as test factors, and the seeding qualified index and variation coefficient of uniformity as test indexes. The results showed that: the influence order of the factors affecting on the seeding qualified index, from high to low, was found to the working speed, inclined angle and forward speed. For the variation coefficient of uniformity, the influence order, from high to low, was as follows: the working speed, forward speed and inclined angle. Based on the optimization analysis performed using the Design Expert 8.0.6, it is concluded that when the working speed, forward speed, and inclined angle are 36.50 r/min, 1.47 m/s, and 4.11°, respectively, the seeding performance was optimal. The seeding qualified index and variation coefficient of uniformity were 90.37% and 12.87%, respectively, to reach the national seeding standard grade. This study provides a research basis and technical reference for the design and development of precision seed devices.

374-383

Authors: Florin NENCIU, Iulian VOICEA, Vasilica STEFAN, Gabriel NAE, Mihai MATACHE, Gabriela MILIAN, Vlad-Nicolae ARSENOAIA

Due to the recent rise in the price of energy and grains, purchasing high-quality pelletized food has caused significant challenges for small and medium-sized fishing farms. The present article aims to assist breeders and farmers with limited financial resources in producing high quality feeder by providing in detail the design and performance of a wet pelletizing equipment. The proposed pelletizing technology demonstrated high efficiency in use, reduced operating expenses, and a high productivity. Four different feed mixes were processed with the pelleting equipment, functioning with a 5 mm die. The experiment results indicated a maximum processing rate of 100 kg/h at an average pelletizing efficiency of 91.5%. The total pelletizing capacity of 0.8 - 1 tons per day is sufficient to provide feed for a medium-sized fishing farm, reducing dependence on the feed market and allowing for a simple nutritional mix customization.

394-405

Authors: Kaikang CHEN, Yanwei YUAN, Bo ZHAO, Liming ZHOU, Kang NIU, Xin DONG, Xin JIN, Yongjun ZHENG

Aiming at the problem that the existing planters cannot accurately maintain the seeding spacing and row spacing in the field, the high-speed photography technology is used to analyze the seeding trajectory, so as to determine the key factors affecting the seeding position. First, a dynamic compensation system for maize seeding position based on fuzzy PID control was designed. In the dynamic compensation system, the biaxial angle sensor was used to detect the angle of seeding monomer, and the space rotation theory was used to calculate the offset of the seeding position. Then, the dynamic compensation of seeding position was completed by the fuzzy PID control servo electric push rod, and the response time of fuzzy PID control system was 0.035 s. When the seed spacing of maize was 30 cm, the conveyor speed was 1.67 m/s and the seed tray speed was 30 r/min. Finally, the bench test was carried out under the conditions of random disturbance signal, sinusoidal wave disturbance signal and random disturbance signal plus sinusoidal wave disturbance signal. The results showed that compared without dynamic compensation, the variation coefficient of the longitudinal grain spacing and the transverse grain spacing decreased by an average of 6.94 % and 9.16 %, respectively. In this way, this study can provide a reference for improving the stability of seeding row spacing and plant spacing.

412-424

Authors: Adriana MUSCALU, Cătălina TUDORA, Cristian SORICĂ, Oana MÎRZAN, Margareta NAIE, Elena BARCANU-TUDOR

The quality of plant material obtained from cultivated medicinal and aromatic plants depends on several important factors, including harvesting, which must be carried out according to the requirements of each cultivation technology. Current producers, especially those who grow these species on small and medium-sized areas, face the high price of labour or its acute shortage, as well as limited access to specialized equipment. The paper provides a brief summary of current concerns about mechanised harvesting of inflorescences of medicinal species cultivated on a small-scale, with mechanisation generally being a guarantee of economic efficiency and quality.

433-444

Authors: Jiawei WANG, Xiaoguo WANG, Xiaohong YU, Decong ZHENG, Zhiwei LI, Haiyan SONG

Aiming at the problems of high moisture content of stems during buckwheat harvesting and easy clogging of grid concave plates, a telescopic rod tooth-ribbed rod roller type threshing device was designed. The device is mainly composed of a ribbed rod roller and telescopic rod teeth. When the ribbed rod roller type rotates, the telescopic rod teeth do reciprocating telescopic motion. When the rod teeth rotate to the minimum threshing gap, the outstretch length is the smallest. When the rod teeth rotate to the top, the outstretch length maximum. The device solves the problems of poor material flow between threshing devices and clogging of grid concave plates. This threshing device was attached to the threshing performance test bench, and the buckwheat threshing test was performed. Through the single factor test, the threshing parameter range under the condition of low loss rate and damage rate of the threshing device was obtained: the speed of the threshing roller is 350~450 r/min, the feeding amount is 0.8~1.2 kg/s, and the threshing gap is 9~11 mm. Through the quadratic orthogonal rotation combination test, the results were fitted by multiple linear regression, and the regression equations of the loss rate and the broken rate were obtained, and the significance test was carried out. The response surface analysis of the main influencing factors was carried out to explore the influence of threshing parameters on the loss rate and damage rate. Through parameter optimization, the threshing parameter combination with the lowest loss rate and damage rate of the threshing device was obtained. The speed of the threshing roller is 405.47 r/min, the feed amount is 1.06 kg/s, and the threshing gap is 10.49 mm. Under these conditions, the loss rate is 0.05%, and the damage rate is 4.05%. The overall performance of the threshing device is good, which provides a theoretical basis for the research and development of buckwheat mechanized harvesting equipment.

456-464

Authors: Valentin IORDACHE, Petru CARDEI, Ion SARACIN

The article presents results obtained in the experimental research of agricultural aggregates intended for soil processing, with special reference to rotary harrows with vertical axis rotor. The authors approach the description of the working process of these machines from a systemic point of view. The general systemic picture is suitable for researching the work processes of many machines and work processes in agriculture and generally in technology, science and technology. Specifically, this approach applies to the aggregate consisting of tractor and rotary agricultural harrow. The efficiency of the results consists in their use in the prediction and optimization of the working process.

487-496

Authors: Qi LU, Decong ZHENG, Fangjian LIU, Yun LIU

In view of the low level of mechanized sowing and harvesting technology of buckwheat, the operation quality of mechanized production equipment needs to be improved, which can not adapt to the production practice of the rapid development of buckwheat industry at this stage in China. This paper summarized the scale of buckwheat production in the world in recent years. The main planting provinces and yields of buckwheat in China were analyzed. The problems of mechanized sowing and harvesting of buckwheat in China were analyzed. The typical machines used in production at present and their characteristics were described. It is pointed out that the future research on Buckwheat seeding technology and equipment should focus on precision seeding technology, trencher anti-blocking technology, key technology of community seeding, intelligent monitoring system. At the same time, it also pointed out that the mechanized harvesting technology and equipment of buckwheat should focus on the research of agricultural machinery and agronomy integration technology, hilly and mountainous harvesting technology, community harvesting technology, harvesting operation technical specifications and quality standards. The summary of mechanized seeding and harvesting technology of buckwheat at the present stage is expected to provide reference for the development of China's buckwheat industry.

509-524

Authors: Jin CHEN, Yuqian YAN, Xuedong ZHANG, Rui LIU

In order to better detect the working parameters of the seed metering device and further improve the performance of the seed metering device, a set of test-bed control system of seed metering device based on fuzzy PID was designed. The PID parameters are mainly used for on-line fuzzy self-tuning to realize the dynamic adjustment of the speed of the seed metering shaft, so as to ensure the fast adjustment of the speed of the seed metering device. Through the simulation of conventional PID control and fuzzy PID control by matlab, the response curve of the control system is obtained. From the response curve, it can be seen that the step response time of fuzzy PID control is about 0.15s, which is much higher than that of conventional PID control, and the work is stable and there is no overshoot. The bench test is carried out in the laboratory and the fuzzy PID control system is applied to the test-bed, and the actual speed regulation effect of the motor and the performance indexes of the seed metering device test-bed are obtained. The bench test shows that when the fuzzy control system is used to carry out the seed metering device test on the test bench, the qualified grain distance index of the seed metering device is maintained above 91%, the coefficient of variation of the qualified grain distance is less than 4%, the missing sowing index is less than 7%, and the replay index is less than 5%. All meet the national standard requirements of single-grain precision seed metering device.

533-542

Authors: Ensi CHENG, Ping SONG, Boxiao WANG, Tiangang HOU, Liyan WU, Benhua ZHANG

Physiological index data and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) spectral data of rice seed samples from three varieties harvested in different years were collected through a combination of the standard germination test and an LF-NMR test. Three parameters of seed vigor: germination energy, germination percentage, and germination index, were calculated based on the physiological index data of the rice seed samples to determine their vigor over the years after harvest. LF-NMR Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence echo-peak data were used as the input, and rice seed vigor was used as the output to establish discriminative models using principal component analysis, support vector machine, logistic regression, K-nearest neighbor, artificial neural network, and Fisher’s linear discriminant. The results showed that models constructed using any algorithm, except for principal components analysis-algorithm distinguished between seeds with high and low vigor, while models constructed using Fisher’s linear discriminant algorithm gave the best results. This study provided a rapid, accurate, and non-destructive method to test rice seed vigor, offering theoretical support and a reference for rice seed-sorting and storage research.

19-30

Authors: Xiaolong HUAN, Decheng WANG, Yong YOU, Wenpeng MA, Lu ZHU, Sibiao LI

In order to better use the discrete element method (DEM) to study the cutting and throwing process of King grass (KG) stalk in mechanical harvesting, the DEM model and contact parameters of KG stalk were studied in this paper. By using the Multi-sphere method, the DEM model of KG stalk was established in EDEM software; Through the impact bounce test and slope sliding test, the stalk-steel coefficient of static friction, stalk-steel coefficient of restitution and stalk-stalk coefficient of restitution were calibrated as 0.372, 0.656 and 0.523, respectively; Based on the stacking test, using the response surface methodology, the optimal values of stalk-stalk coefficient of static friction, stalk-stalk coefficient of rolling friction, stalk-steel coefficient of rolling friction were calibrated as 0.393, 0.072 and 0.144, respectively. The throwing test bench of stalk was designed, and the actual and simulation throwing test were carried out. The relative error of throwing distance in bench test and simulation test under four throwing speeds was 1.15%, 7.76%, 8.88% and 10.46%, respectively. The throwing trajectory curve of the simulation test is consistent with that of the actual test, which verifies the accuracy of the DEM model and contact parameters of KG stalk.

41-48

Authors: Dan CUJBESCU, Iuliana GAGEANU, Cătălin PERSU, Gabriel GHEORGHE

Studies and research carried out on seed meters of precision planters whose operating principle is based on the depression / suction of the air created during the work by the exhauster (vacuum generator) in the vacuum chamber have the role of helping to improve their performance. With the advancement of sowing technology, the emphasis on the ability of seed meters to accurately and consistently distribute seeds in the soil increases. The singularization of the seeds by means of the seed meters and their distance along the channels opened by the coulter is essential to ensure the achievement of the maximum yield of the crop sown on a certain area of land. The paper presents the numerical simulation of the working process for a pneumatic seed meter by means of a mathematical model, analysing the movement of the seeds according to the angle of detachment, the height of detachment of the seed, as well as the speed of the seed in its trajectory towards the channel opened by the coulter.

62-72

Authors: Xiwen ZHANG, Zhanfeng HOU, Chuanzhong XUAN

While studying the coating theory, due to the lack of the support of the rapid identification and detection device for coated red clover seeds, for a long time, we have mainly relied on manual visual inspection to sort qualified coated seeds, only relying on human eyes to identify the cause of low efficiency, high wrong classification rate and high labor intensity. In order to identify the coated red clover seeds quickly and efficiently, a set of intelligent identification and detection system for coated red clover seeds was designed. First of all, by building a machine vision shooting platform to ensure that the light source and other shooting conditions are consistent, the images are transmitted to Vision Assistant 2018 for image processing. Secondly, two image processing algorithms are designed to process qualified coated seeds and damaged coated seeds respectively. Finally, an identification and detection algorithm is proposed, which uses LabVIEW2018 as the host computer to identify the qualified number and the damaged number. Taking red clover seeds as the test object, the test results show that the entire system takes about 1 second to collect and process a single image; the recognition accuracy of qualified coated seeds and damaged coated seeds is above 96% and 85%. The identification and detection system realizes the nondestructive detection of coated seeds, and provides theoretical basis and technical support for the later research on the optimal seed coating process, deepening the theoretical research of the coating machine and improving the degree of automation.

81-90

Authors: Yichuan HE, Can HU, Qiaonan YANG, Xufeng WANG, Xuan ZHENG, Huanjun YANG, Yaming LIU

The farmland in Xinjiang of China is mainly sandy loam soil, on which the crops are subject to flat planting with mulched film. Before planting, the soil should go through deep ploughing in a short operation period, thus there is high demand on the high-speed plow and it is necessary to optimize the plow based on tillage resistivity to improve its working performance. In view of optimal design of the surface of high-speed reversible plow, simulation test was adopted to optimize the resistivity model, then finite element method was used to test the force condition of the plow. At last, the tillage resistivity of the plow after optimization was tested by soil bin test. Test results showed that, at tilling depth of 300 mm, tilling speed of 12 km/hm, and when the plow height was 250 mm with cutting angle of 37° and dozer angle of 84°, the plow achieved the optimal tillage resistivity and the optimal combination was 2.85 N/cm2; at tilling depth of 300 mm, soil moisture content of 17%, and soil compactness of 220 N/cm2, the maximum tensile stress on the surface of the plow was 115.61 MPa and total deformation was 2.869 mm; the maximum flexible strain of the plow was 9.38e-4. Soil bin test showed that, at tilling depth of 300 mm, dozer angle of 84°, the optimized high-speed reversible plow reduced the tillage resistance by 17.9% compared with common high-speed reversible plow made in China, and can provide reference to the design of high-horsepower tractors.

101-110

Authors: Xin DU, Cailing LIU, Meng JIANG, Hao YUAN, Lei DAI, Fanglin LI, Zhanpeng GAO

To simulate the interactions between the coated fertilizer particles and the fertilizer discharging components accurately, the coated fertilizer contact parameters were calibrated using the discrete element method (DEM). Based on the angle of repose test, single-factor simulations were performed on the coefficient of restitution (COR), coefficient of static friction (COSF) and coefficient of rolling friction (CORF) between particles, and the internal relationship between the level change of each factor and the static angle of repose (SAOR) was determined. The CCD test was used to calibrate the contact parameters between particles. When the COR, COSF and CORF between particles are 0.625, 0.175, and 0.037, respectively, the simulation value of SAOR is 24.173°, and the relative error from the real value is 1.230%, which indicates that the calibrated fertilizer particle contact parameters are accurate and reliable.

121-127

Authors: I. BESPALOV, V. YAROSHEVSKY, V. BULGAKOV, S. IVANOVS

The peculiarities of microbial plant protection products from pests and diseases allow the use of thin-walled fermenters in their production, in which there is no sterilisation under high pressure. The article is devoted to the development of the cleaning in place system for such fermenters. Experimental studies have been carried out to ensure a pasteurising effect when treating the fermenter with heated sterile water and a nutrient medium concentrate obtained from the sterilizer. Its parameters: its volume, temperature, the time delay have been determined. There is proposed a hardware diagram of the fermentation plant, consisting of an industrial steriliser and a thin-walled fermenter. The cleaning procedure is combined with the main technological process and does not require additional equipment. The production tests have confirmed the cleaning efficiency.

139-149

Authors: Tianci HUANG, Bei WU, Lucen LI, Tianlin ZUO, Fangping XIE

Reducing potato tuber injury rate is responsible for optimal design of potato harvester , one of the most important goals.To assess the influence of various factors on potato tubers impact damage，the physical model of potato tuber collision was constructed in terms of the deformation and deformation energy analysis during the collision. Secondly, the orthogonal trial was conducted.the impact material, potato varieties,potential energy,impact angle were selected as factors,meanwhile,the comprehensive damage index(DI) was taken as the evaluation index.The results showed that the damage degree of potato tuber decreases with the reduction of impact material hardness, potential energy, and collision angle.When the impact material is a plank, the potential energy is 1.2j, the type of potato is Lishu 6, and the collision angle is 0 °，the comprehensive damage index is the lowest, 0.0055.According to the result of orthogonal test, the regression mathematical model was obtained.At the same time,verification tests were performed.The results of verification tests showed that the average error between the predicted data of the comprehensive damage index that was calculated by the regression mathematical model and the experimental data was 5.22%.

159-166

Authors: Pharunee SARMPHIM, Narongsak SUTTHIPHON, Parimate JAROENSONG, Chitnarong SIRISATHITKUL, Yaowarat SIRISATHITKUL

The Internet of Things (IoT) based system was assembled to monitor the moisture of soils for both indoor and outdoor uses. The SKU:SEN0193 capacitive soil moisture sensor exhibited a linear response to a variation in water volume added to the soil. Microcontroller Arduino NodeMCU was used with ESP8266 Wi-Fi module to transfer the sensing data in real-time and the soil moisture data was displayed by the Blynk application on a smartphone. When the moisture dropped under the pre-defined threshold, the user was informed via the Line application and able to remotely trigger the irrigation pump.

182-190

Authors: Zhicai SONG, Peisong DIAO, Huanxio PANG, Dianbao ZHAO, Hequan MIAO, Xiaowei LI, Duozhen YANG

In order to find out the influence rule of threshing system parameters on threshing effect and the optimal parameter combination, the cylinder-concave clearance adjustment device is realized by "Front and back two hydraulic cylinders + Slide rail", the deflector angle adjustment device is realized by "Hydraulic cylinder driving hinge rotation" and the threshing separation device inclination angle adjustment device is realized by "Front adjustable double head pull rod". Multi-objective optimization test was carried out. The experimental results showed that the significant order of the influence of various factors on the grain breakage rate was rotational speed of roller, threshing separation device inclination angle, feeding rate, deflector angle and cylinder-concave clearance. The order of significance of the influence on uncleaned material rate was rotational speed of roller, cylinder-concave clearance, deflector angle, threshing device angle and feeding rate. According to the multi-objective parameter optimization analysis, the optimal operation parameter combination of corn threshing was determined. Under this parameter combination condition, model verification test and field optimization test were carried out. Compared with the field test value after parameter optimization, the grain breakage rate decreased from 4.018% to 3.462%, and the uncleaned material rate decreased from 0.292% to 0.218%.

201-210

Authors: Zenghui GAO, Shuqi SHANG, Nan XU, Dongwei WANG

At present, there is a lack of accurate discrete element simulation model and parameters in the optimization research and development of key components such as soil contact of seedbed preparation equipment in Huang Huai Hai double cropping production area, which hinders the optimization and improvement of equipment operation effect. In this paper, the discrete element method is used to study the interaction between soil-touching components and wheat straw-soil mixture to improve the performance of equipment. Firstly, the Hertz-Mindlin with JKR Cohesion contact model is selected for the wheat straw-soil mixture to calibrate the parameters. Then, the method of combining physical test and simulation test is used to calibrate the parameters, the cylinder lifting method is used to determine the buildup angle of wheat straw soil mixture, and the Plackett-Burman screening method and the steepest climbing test are used to determine the optimal combination range of soil-straw static friction coefficient, soil-straw dynamic friction coefficient and soil-soil dynamic friction coefficient contact model parameters. Using Box-Behnken test, the regression equation of the stacking angle of wheat straw soil mixture was obtained, and the variance and interaction effect of the regression model were analysed. The regression model was used to find the optimal solution in Design-Expert software with an angle of repose of 41.23°, which yielded a soil-straw static friction factor of 0.072, a soil-straw dynamic friction factor of 0.78, and a soil-soil dynamic friction factor of 0.068, with an angle of repose error of 1.43%, indicating that the contact model parameters are reliable, and the parameters can provide a reference and theoretical basis for the study of the key components of the seedbed preparation equipment such as touching soil in the Yellow and Huaihai Sea two-maturity zone.

219-228

Authors: Yajun ZHUANG, Jie HAN, Zeqi LIU, Meng ZHANG, Zheng ZHANG, Yubin LAN, Yulong CHEN

In this paper,the vertical disk mechanical seed-metering device is taken as the object to optimize the design of seed holding ring. The laboratory test is carried out with seed-metering test bench and high-speed camera system; and the influence law of starting and ending angle, front inclination angle and flexible buffer of seed holding ring on the seed filling performance is studied. The ending angle of seed holding ring shall be consistent with seed throwing angle of seed-metering device, and the starting angle of seed holding ring has a significant effect on seed filling performance. The quality of fill index will first increase and then decrease, reaching the maximum at 35.7°; while miss fill index will first decrease and then increase, and the multiple fill index will be 0% when the starting angle is greater than 50°; and seed damage index will first decrease and then increase. In order to improve seed filling performance, the front end of seed holding ring is treated with inner chamfering. The larger the angle is, the lower the quality of fill index, the higher the multiple fill index and the lower the miss fill index, but the seed damage index will also increase. By setting a flexible buffer in the front end of seed holding ring, the seed damage index can be effectively reduced. When the buffer is 60mm, the seed can be cleaned smoothingly, and the seed damage index will be 0%.

239-246

Authors: Jixia ZHEN, Wei CHEN, Hongwei GAO

Buckwheat huller is the key equipment of the buckwheat rice processing and its performance is directly related to the quality and yield of buckwheat rice. The key working parts of the sand disc sheller are a pair of parallel sand discs. The structure and the working parameters of the sand discs are the key factors affecting the shelling performance. In this paper, the effect of rotating speed of sand disc, shelling clearance, grain size of sand disc and width of the working face on the shelling performance are experimentally investigated. The results show that the rice yield and relative broken rice rate increase with the increase of the rotating speed of the lower sand disc, and the relative broken rice rate increases sharply when the speed reaches a certain value. With the linear increase of the shelling clearance, the rice yield and the relative broken rice rate are first decreased rapidly, and then decrease slowly. The smaller the particle size of the sand disc is, the higher the rice yield and the relative broken rice rate are, and the influence of the lower sand disc is obviously greater than that of the upper one. Properly widening the width of working face will increase the rice yield but the width tends to have little influence on the rice yield when it increases to a certain extent, and its change has a small impact on the relative broken rice rate. According to the results of single factor test and orthogonal test, the sheller can achieve a better shelling performance and work efficiency when the grain size of the upper sand disc is F24, the grain size of the lower sand disc is F36, the shelling clearance is 5 mm, the rotating speed of the sand disc is 950 r/min, and the width of the working face is 2 cm

257-266

Authors: Valery GOROBETS, Viktor TROKHANIAK, Mykola MASIUK, Nadiia SPODYNIUK, Oksana SHEREMETYNSKA, Olena SHELIMANOVA

An experimental study of the wind flow concentrator of a new design using the wind tunnel of subsonic speeds was carried out. Experimental studies in the wind tunnel were performed at an air flow velocity of 1 m/s. The fields of velocity and pressure distribution in the areas in front of the wind flow concentrator and in its central part are obtained. Based on the obtained data in the Mathcad, contour graphs are constructed, which show the distribution of wind flow velocities and pressures in the investigated part of the wind flow concentrator. As a result, it was obtained that in the area of the wind turbine blades there is an increase in the velocity of air masses by 4 times compared to the air velocity at the entrance to the wind flow concentrator. The proposed design of the wind flow concentrator makes it possible to increase the efficiency of the wind turbine and receive electric energy at low wind speeds, when the bladed wind turbines do not generate electricity. Verification of experimental data with data of numerical modeling of hydrodynamics in the wind flow concentrator is carried out. The evaluation of the use of wind flow concentrator to increase the efficiency of wind turbines with a vertical axis of rotation is carried out.

279-288

Authors: Qiang SU, Xuying LI, Fandi ZENG, Junyue WANG, Yongzhi ZHANG, Hongbin BAI, Lei WU, Jie WANG

The vibration of the hanging cup transplanter affected the hole size and tray seedling quality. This paper takes the 2ZP-2 hanging cup transplanter as the research object, studies the vibration characteristics of the transplanter when it works, deduces the mathematical model of the transplanter-soil vibration characteristics, and solves the steady-state vibration response. The Danish B&K vibration test system carried out the vibration test. Studies have shown that the vertical vibration of the transplanter is greater than that of the lateral vibration and the forward vibration. The main factors affecting the vertical vibration of the transplanter are the forward speed of the transplanter, the soil compaction, and the planting depth. When the forward momentum of the transplanter is in the range of 0.8~2.4 km/h, the vertical vibration acceleration increases with increasing forward speed of the transplanter. According to the power, spectral density curve, and spectral curve, the spectrum range of the vertical vibration energy peak is 0~10 Hz, the vibration frequency is between 4.5~5.5 Hz, and the corresponding vibration acceleration amplitude is 0.03~0.33 m/s2. The research results can provide a reference for improving the operating speed, comfort, and structural optimization.

301-310

Authors: Xiaohu CHEN, Xiaorong LÜ, Xiao WANG, Xinye TU, Xiaolian LÜ

In order to improve the automation level of the leveling system of crawler tractor, the adaptive leveling control system is designed and studied for the developed leveling device. The overall scheme of the leveling control system is determined. The system hardware is designed and selected, and the control algorithm of the leveling control system is designed by using the proportional algorithm. The designed leveling control system is composed of real-time detection part, control part, driving part and display part. The system can detect and control the tractor inclination angle in real time, and monitor inclination angle and leveling time in real time. The results of the leveling control system performance test are shown: the leveling accuracy and time of lateral slope and longitudinal slope increase with the increase of tractor body inclination angle; The leveling accuracy and stability of longitudinal slope are better than that of lateral slope leveling, and the leveling speed is higher than that of lateral slope leveling; The coordination leveling accuracy is higher than the independent leveling accuracy of lateral slope and longitudinal slope, and the collaborative leveling accuracy of longitudinal slope is obviously better than its independent leveling accuracy; The leveling control system can independently complete the leveling work according to the actual working conditions of the crawler tractor, and the leveling accuracy can reach within 1°, the leveling time is within 0-6s; The leveling accuracy and time can meet the design requirements.

321-330

Authors: Fan ZHAO, Jiawei ZHANG, Na ZHANG, Zhiqiang TAN, Yonghao XIE, Song ZHANG, Zhe HAN, Mingbao LI

Cucurbitaceae is widely planted and its fruits have great economic value. Object detection is one of the key aspects of cucurbit harvesting. In this paper, four models, YOLOv3, YOLOv4, YOLOv5s and improved Resnet_YOLO, were used to detect mixed bitter melon, cucumber, white melon, and "Boyang 9" melon fruits. Fruit images of bitter melon, cucumber, white melon and "Boyang 9" melon were collected under different natural conditions for model training. The results showed that "Boyang 9" melon had the best overall detection results among the four cucurbit species, with the highest AP and F1, 0.99 and 0.94 respectively. The YOLOv5s model performed best among the four models: the best weights size was the smallest at 14MB; the better mAP value of 0.971 for all classes of cucurbits; and the fastest detection speed with fps of 90.9 . This paper shows that four types of cucurbit fruit images, bitter melon, cucumber, white melon, and "Boyang 9" melon, can be detected based on deep learning methods for hybrid detection.

340-350

Authors: Eko Kuncoro PRAMONO, Mirwan Ardiansyah KARIM, Ahmad FUDHOLI, Ramayanty BULAN, Ravipat LAPCHAROENSUK, Agustami SITORUS

This study focusses on the development of a low-cost Internet of Things (IoT) system for semispherical solar dryers to dry arabica coffee beans. The temperatures and relative humidity (Rh) of a solar dryer room are measured using a DHT22 sensor module. The moisture content of hard arabica coffee beans is calculated by measuring the mass of the dried product using the load cell sensor module. All detected data are then sent using wireless networks and saved on a database cloud server. Tests are conducted to evaluate the uniformity of the DHT22 sensor module in a semispherical solar dryer, measure the temperature and Rh and reduce the mass of the dried coffee beans. The performance of the DHT22 sensor module at the uniformity testing stage shows promising results in terms of temperature and Rh, with standard deviations of 0.46 and 3.55, respectively. In addition, the performance of the semispherical solar dryer in relation to the drying kinetics of arabica coffee beans is evaluated. Arabica coffee beans are dried from 49.59% (w.b.) to 10% (w.b.) moisture content within 69 h. In addition, the drying kinetics of coffee arabica beans are investigated. Three models are compared with experimental data on arabica coffee beans dried in a semispherical solar dryer. The Page model is selected to represent the thin layer drying behaviour of arabica coffee beans.

361-372

Authors: Xiongfei CHEN, Xuehai LIANG, Muhua LIU, Jiajia YU, Huilong LI, Zhaopeng LIU

For rice ratooning, the lateral bud germination of the rice stubble after the first harvesting can be used to continue the next growing season, but the first harvesting machinery will crush and damage the rice stubble, resulting in the reduction of yield in the ratooning season. Righting the rolled stubble can reduce this loss, and thus a double-chain finger grain lifter was designed in this study. Then, a kinematic model and motion trajectory curve of the grain lifter was established. The influence law of the chain speed, chain spacing and the number of fingers of the rear righting chain was determined. Furthermore, taking into account the success rate and the rate of secondary damage of the righting, a full-factor bench test was performed. The best operating characteristics of the grain lifter are: chain speed of 345 r/min, adjacent chain spacing of 300 mm, and the number of gears and fingers on the rear righting chain of 3. The success rate and the secondary damage rate of the righting is 90.05% and 1.72%, respectively. A field verification test was conducted, with an average success rate of 55%. The results of this study can provide valuable reference for the righting technology of rolled rice stubble and promote the whole mechanized production of ratoon rice.

383-392

Authors: Xuening ZHANG, Yong YOU, Decheng WANG, Jie LV

To improve the ditching performance of high-firmness grassland, a bionic root cutter based on the contour curve model of Prosopocoilus astacoides' jaw was designed, as well as a grassland root-cutting and ditching device combining the bionic root cutter with the core-share opener. The grassland ditching experiment investigated the horizontal working resistance, ditching stability, and soil disturbance of the three ditching parts. According to the trial results, when the core-share opener was used for ditching in high-firmness grassland, the ditching stability was poor, the working resistance was high, and the grassland was severely damaged. Compared with the independent configuration of the core-share opener, the ditching performance can be significantly improved by installing a root cutter in front of the core-share opener, and the effect of installing the bionic root cutter was better than that of an ordinary triangular root cutter. When the ditching depth was 5cm, 10cm, and 15cm, the ditching stability coefficient of the root-cutting and ditching device increased by 16.67%, 9.54%, and 6.18%, respectively, the horizontal working resistance reduced by 58.73%, 28.15%, and 19.84%, respectively, and the soil disturbance area reduced by 30.58%, 23.73%, and 20.21%, respectively.

403-412

Authors: Claudia IONITA, Elena Eugenia VASILESCU, Lucreția POPA

In the paper we presented a comparative analysis of the effect of the refrigerant used on the operation and performance of a heat pump with water-water and heat regeneration. Various sensitivity studies are presented comparatively for some eco-friendly refrigerants (R290, R600a, R454C, R152a) and R407C. Based on the exergetic analysis, the exergy destruction and loss were estimated for each device, depending on the destination and the operating regime. Graphic and numerical results are presented. In conclusion, a comparative analysis of the defined performance coefficient based on energy and exergetic efficiency is presented. The interest of the study is important due to the applicability of geothermal heat pumps in the field of air conditioning of residential and industrial buildings but also in agriculture for animal farms, for drying some agricultural products in a climate with controlled temperature and relative humidity, in addition the water can be used in summer for irrigation.

19-28

Authors: Weigang Deng, Chenglong Liu, Peng Li, Yanlong Wang, Shengshi Xie, Chunguang Wang

To analyze the maximum acceleration (amax) of a potato colliding with different objects, both experimental test and finite element analysis (FEA) methods were used. Results showed that when potatoes were collided with the single rod, the steel plate and the double rods, the average discrepancies of FEA and experimental test values were 5.3%, 3.95% and 5.04%. The amax increased with the increase of potato drop height, and decreased with the increase of potato mass. Under the same conditions, the amax decreased in turn when the potatoes were collided with the steel plate, the single rod and the double rods. The FEA results showed that the amax in collision with the steel plate was 60.78% to 96.29% higher than that with the double rods. The amax in collision with the steel plate was 53.89% to 83.27% higher than that with the double rods. The amax in collision with the single rod covered with soil was 37.65% and 31.54% lower than that without soil from different drop height or with different potato mass. The research methods and conclusions of this article provided a basis for the analysis of impact mechanics and damage mechanism of potatoes, and contributed to further researches related to solid-like agricultural and food products.

39-46

Authors: Aleksey Kupreenko, Yury Kuznetsov, Тatiana Bychkova, Igor Kravchenko, Nikolay Aldoshin, Larisa Kalashnikova

The construction of a solar dryer-grain storage facility is described in this paper. The design of a grain auger conveyor-distributor for its loading is made. The dependence of the width of the discharge opening in the casing of the auger conveyor-distributor on its length is obtained. The results of laboratory tests of the grain auger conveyor-distributor are presented. It is established that the minimum initial width of the drain opening for wheat grain should be not less than 9 mm. The conditions of grain uniform distribution grain by the auger conveyor-distributor are justified: the filling factor of the auger inter-turn space in its loading zone – 0.35; the length of the discharge opening of the charging hopper should be equal to the doubled value of the auger pitch size. In this case, the uneven distribution of grain along the discharge opening will be no more than 5%.

57-66

Authors: Meng Zhang, Zeqi Liu, Yajun Zhuang, Jie Han, Xiang Yin, Yulong Chen

The vacuum seed metering device absorbs seeds by using the negative pressure generated by vacuum air flow. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the variation law of pyrolysis gas flow field to improve its seed metering performance. In this paper, the common disc and composite disc were selected as the research objects and tested on the indoor test-bed. The negative pressure was measured by U-type barometer, and the effects of fan speed, suction hole size, seed hole structure and air chamber thickness on the air flow field were studied. Firstly, the influence of fan rotation frequency on vacuum chamber negative pressure is studied, and the variation law of negative pressure in vacuum chamber and fan port of common disc and composite disc under the same frequency is compared. Secondly, the suction holes in the vacuum chamber were numbered, the negative pressure distribution of the suction holes was measured, and the influence of the number and diameter of the suction holes on the negative pressure of the vacuum chamber was studied. Finally, the negative pressure was measured at the distance of 0 to 10 mm from the suction hole to study the effect of seed hole structure on the air flow field. Moreover, increase the additional thickness of the vacuum chamber from 0 to 40 mm to study the influence of the chamber thickness on the distribution of the gas flow field. This paper makes a comprehensive experimental analysis on the influencing factors of air flow field of air suction seed metering device, necessary for future design of air suction seed metering device.

73-81

Authors: Bing Xu, Decong Zheng, Jiaxin Wang, Youzhi Yang

A flame intra-row weeding robot, based on the Delta mechanism, was designed to solve the problems of high labor intensity, low efficiency, easy-to-harm seedling and others. Simultaneously, the applicable robot kinematics model was established. Moreover, the method of exhaustion enabled us to obtain the full-scale robot workspace and analyze its smart workspace. When the nozzle diameter took different values, the numerical simulation on the propane combustion process in the burner was performed by the Fluent component transport model, analyzing the temperature distribution inside and out of the burner. The experimental results showed that the flame intra-row weeding robot was required to work on the condition that the radius of smart cylindrical space is Φ400 mm×359.8 mm — when the length of the driving arm is 300 mm, the length of the driven arm is 800 mm, the radius of the static platform is 150 mm and the radius of the movable platform is 50 mm — the maximum temperature of propane flame reaches 1,830 K and the width of the high temperature zone reaches 27 mm — when the nozzle diameter is 1.6 mm.

91-100

Authors: Xiwen Zhang, Zhanfeng Hou, Nianzu Dai

In view of the problems of long coating time, complicated manual operation, high multi-seed rate of coated seeds, low qualified rate, and low degree of automation of control equipment in traditional rotary coating machine, a new type of rotary coating machine was designed while using LabVIEW with a complete electric control system, which can effectively improve the speed and quality of coating. The system uses single-chip microcomputer as the lower computer, LabVIEW as the upper computer, and uses programming electronic control technology to set seed coating parameters in advance, precisely control each part and achieve precise supply. Batch supply of powder and liquid greatly improves the automation and intelligence of the operating system, improves the coating efficiency, reduces the multi-seed rate and the seedless rate, and increases the coating pass rate. In order to improve the coating quality and the supply accuracy of the coating machine, the error analysis and calibration test of the seed supply system, powder supply system and liquid supply system were carried out. After the test verification, the supply error was controlled within 2% to meet the demand for precise supply. The test results show that the pass rate of the seeds coated by the new rotary coating machine is increased by 15% to 20% compared with the seeds coated by the traditional manual coating

111-118

Authors: XiaoDan Ren, Haichao Wang, Xin Shi

Aiming at the field management of plum grove in Inner Mongolia of China, taking the dense planting plum groves in Bikeqi town of Hohhot City as the research object, this paper proposed a visual navigation path detection algorithm for plum grove. By processing the video image information of plum grove, comparing RGB and HSV color space model, HSV color model was selected to separate the plant and background in V channel. Homomorphic filtering was used to highlight the region of interest in the image, Otsu was selected to segment the image, the intersection of plum trunk and ground was extracted as feature points, and the least square method was used to fit the navigation path. Through the comparative analysis of detection rate under different detection conditions in one day, the verification test of route accuracy was carried out. The experimental results show that: for dense planting plum grove, the average path detection accuracy of the algorithm is 70% and 73.3% under the condition of front light and weak light, respectively. The detection accuracy and real-time meet the requirements of plum grove field management, and the navigation baseline can be generated more accurately, which provides a preliminary basis for the realization of mechanical vision navigation in plum grove field management.

129-138

Authors: Cristian Nutescu, Iuliana Gageanu, Dan Cujbescu

The paper presents theoretical research conducted for the optimization of the working process of variable width ploughs. Thus, were determined multivariable regression functions for the traction force of the plough with variable working function of the control parameters: working depth, working width and working speed. The use of these theoretical considerations of the optimal points sought lead to the opportunity of making assessments on the possibilities to conduct their experimental validation. Conditions for an experimental plan were formulated to highlight such optimal points and the theoretical results were validated through experiments.

153-162

Authors: Zeqi Liu, Meng Zhang, Jie Han, Yajun Zhuang, Yubin Lan, Yulong Chen

In this paper, taking compound air-suction seed metering device as the subject, the effect rule of seed filling angle and seed releasing angle on the performance of seed filling and seed metering is studied. An indoor test was conducted with a JPS-12 metering test bench and a high-speed camera system. The starting and ending angles of the air chamber were changed by adjusting the regulating plate, that is, the angles of seed filling and seed releasing, and the filling and seed metering performance was taken as evaluation indexes. The test results show that: the seed filling angle has significant effect on the seed filling effect, and the miss fill index decreases with the increase of the quality of fill index. When the seed filling angle exceeds 50°, they will stabilize gradually ending at the multiple fill index of 0%. The negative pressure and operating speed are interactive and have a significant effect on filling performance. The seed releasing angle has significant effect on the metering performance. With the increase of the angle, the quality of feed index increases firstly and then decreases. The multiple index and miss index are opposite to the quality of feed index which is the max at the seed releasing angle of 39.5°. The negative pressure and forward speed are interactive and have a significant effect on metering performance. The quality of feed index under the same condition is lower than that of fill index.

173-182

Authors: Bin Li, Mingjun Ma, Chaoju Yang

In order to improve the quality of modern dairy industry, it is an inevitable trend to implement intensive control feeding of dairy cows, which is also the development direction in the future. Different feeding methods have different important effects on the health of dairy cows. For example, calves grow and develop rapidly during lactation, change their physiological structure quickly, have strong plasticity, poor inversion and imperfect digestive function. In the production of dairy farms, the scientific feeding mode of calves indirectly affects the overall benefits of dairy farms. Therefore, aiming at the above problems, this paper studies how to accurately control the quality of dairy cows. A cow precise feeding control system based on wireless communication technology and cow information management technology is studied, which solves the problems of wireless information transmission, automatic and accurate cow identification and dual-mode operation of feeder, and ensures the accurate supply of cow concentrate.

193-202

Authors: Jingxin Sun, Liqin Yang, Baohui Xu, Yuming Guo, Qingliang Cui, Yanqing Zhang

This critical collision damage force of millet and sweet buckwheat grain and the shelling force of shelled granular materials are important basic data for research of threshing and shelling technology and equipment. In order to master the linear velocity and collision force of grain with different moisture content when collision damage occurs, a centrifugal collision test device is designed. Based on the dynamic and kinematic analysis of grain in the centrifugal rotary table, the collision force between grain and steel plate was measured by PVDF piezoelectric pressure sensor and data acquisition system. The results showed that: under the same moisture content, the higher the rotational speed, the higher the grain crushing rate; at the same rotational speed, with the increase of moisture content, the crushing rate first decreased and then increased. When the moisture content of Jingu-21 and Yuqiao-4 is 19.7% and 17.8%, respectively, the grain crushing rate was the lowest. In terms of the anti-collision ability of grain, the optimum moisture content of threshing is between 19.7% and 21% for millet. For sweet buckwheat, the optimum moisture content of threshing is 17.8% ~19%, while the optimum moisture content of shelling by centrifugal sheller is about 11%. The faster the rotational speed of centrifugal rotary table is, the greater the linear speed of grain is, and the greater the collision force is. When the linear velocity of grain was 8.32 m/s and 11.30 m/s respectively, the millet grain moisture content was 11.1% and 20.9% respectively, damage began to appear, and the corresponding collision force was about 5.51 N and 10.6 N, respectively. When the linear velocity of grain was 8.32 m/s and 11.30 m/s respectively, and the moisture content was 11.1% and 22.8% of the sweet buckwheat grain respectively, damage began to appear, the corresponding collision force was about 8.92 N and 12.79 N, respectively. When the rotating speed of rotary table was 910 r/min, the linear speed of grain was 27.05 m/s, the crushing rate of millet and sweet buckwheat grain in harvest period were 56.30% and 63.76%, respectively, and the crushing rate of millet and buckwheat grain with 11.1% moisture content were 86.27% and 89.4%, respectively. The research results can provide theoretical basis for design and optimization of millet and sweet buckwheat combine harvester, threshing device and shelling device.

213-224

Authors: Zhilong Zhang, Jinlong Zheng, Aijun Geng, Ji Zhang, Abdalla N. O. Kheiry, Ang Gao

Applying different types of fertilizers to different depths of soil according to demand is advantageous in that it can optimize the distribution of nutrients in arable soil, adjust the nutrient supply of each growth stage of wheat, and increase grain yield. In the study, a layered fertilization opener that could realize the layered fertilization was developed. The interaction model between the opener, fertilizer and soil was established using EDEM simulation software. A response surface analysis was used to determine the optimal parameters of the opener. Specifically, the horizontal distance between the fertilizer drop openings was 140 mm, the machine speed was 1.05 m/s, and the angle of the opener was 37°. Furthermore, field experiments demonstrated that the average depth of upper layer was 8.39 cm, the average depth of middle layer was 16.465 cm, the average depth of lower layer was 24.025 cm, the average spacing of upper layer was 8.075 cm, and the average spacing of lower layer was 7.6 cm. The corresponding findings demonstrated that the layering effect of the opener met the requirements of the fertilization standard.

233-240

Authors: Vasyl Dmytriv, Ihor Dmytriv, Іvan Horodetskyy, Roman Horodniak, Taras Dmytriv

The method and parameters of experimental modelling of systems and processes in mechanical engineering are substantiated. The theory of similarity and dimensionality is used as an intermediate link between theory and experiment. The dimension of the factor space depends on the number of factors. The set of factors is grouped into dimensionless similarity criteria. The selected criteria are in certain dependence, such as the Galileo test, Euler and Reynolds numbers. Examples of application in experimental studies are given. The use of dimension theory in a factor-planned experiment allows reducing the number of factors, simplifies the mathematical interpretation of the response criterion and provides a graphical representation in the form of 3-D model.

248-254

Authors: Petru Cardei, Cristian Nuţescu, Mihai Matache, Oana Cristea

In this paper, a few assessments of the optimal parametric combinations in the operating regime of agricultural aggregates with ploughs of variable width are made. The starting point was from a classic expression of the tillage draft force required for traction. In order to find optimal points, some problems of constrained extreme have been formulated. Extremes provided by the optimal working width and speed have been found. Such optimal points have existed in the literature, for about half a century. Using these theoretical estimates of the optimal points sought, assessments of the possibilities for their experimental validation were made. Basic conditions for an experimental plan are formulated to highlight such optimal points.

265-274

Authors: Zhenguo Zhang, Jin He, Hongwen Li, Qingjie Wang, Wenchao Yang, Quanyu Wang

Automatic navigation system for agricultural vehicles have become a widely used technology in precision agriculture over the last few decades. More and more sophisticated tractor control systems, however, revealed that exact positioning of the actual implement is equally or even more important. Based on literature sources and patent databases, the aim of this review is to introduce implement guidance systems and describe its current application in agricultural implement. Agricultural implement guidance is an essential technology for autonomous vehicle operations. In addition, applications and new technologies associated with navigation sensors on passive and active implement guidance are analyzed. Finally, challenges and future perspectives of agricultural implement systems are summarized and forecasted. This study can enrich the application of automatic navigation sensors on agricultural implements and provide a reference for the application of automatic navigation on more field operations.

283-292

Authors: Ying Li, Zhuohuai Guan, Yisong Chen

Aiming at the problems that the cutter frequency of combine harvester is difficult to be adjusted adaptively with the forward speed, and that the missed cut or repeated cut may cause the harvesting loss to increase and the operation effect to fluctuate greatly, the system is designed to regulate the cutter frequency of combine harvester by sections. By constructing the cutter trajectory equation, the influence of the relationship between the forward speed of the harvester and the cutting frequency on the cutting area is analysed, and the optimum cutting frequency range at different operating speeds is determined. The results show that the error between the actual cutting frequency and the desired frequency of the cutter is less than 0.8Hz, and the maximum relative error is less than 8.6%; the average steady-state adjustment time of the system is 1.3s when the input cutting frequency of the device changes abruptly. The research class provides technical support for the improvement of the combine harvester handling system and the increase of the machine automation level.

303-311

Authors: Viktor Trokhaniak, Nadiia Spodyniuk, Ievgen Antypov, Olena Shelimanova, Svitlana Tarasenko, Anatoliy Mishchenko

For high-quality and simultaneous breeding of different ages of poultry a modular keeping is proposed. The heating system of the module is a panel infrared heater. It is intended for local heating of technological area. Design dimensions of the module were determined for reasons of qualitative course of technological process, namely the stocking density of poultry. Experimental studies of the temperature regime of poultry breeding area were carried out. Body temperature of the poultry was within acceptable limits, up to 41.5ºC. In addition, the surface temperature of the feathers did not exceed 29.1ºC, which fully complies with sanitary and hygienic standards. For a better representation of temperature regime in the module, CFD modeling was performed. Fields of velocities, pressures and temperatures were obtained. The air temperature near poultry in the module reached 18.6ºC, and the average velocity did not exceed 0.75m/s.

321-332

Authors: Jinlong Feng, Shujuan Yi, Qichao Li

Deep-fertilization mechanism is a key part of deep-fertilization liquid fertilizer applicator. To obtain a good-performance deep-fertilization mechanism, this study developed a deep-fertilization mechanism with deformed gears and designed a deformed gear fertilization test bench. Single-factor and central composite design tests were performed with the planet carrier, spray hole size and pump pressure as the test factors, and the fertilizer amount as the test index. The results of the single-factor test showed a linear functional relationship between fertilizer amount and pump pressure, an exponential functional relationship between planet carrier velocity and fertilizer amount, and an exponential relationship between spray hole size and fertilizer amount. The rotating and perpendicular test data were analyzed and optimized using Design-Expert 8.0.5 software. The result of the optimization is: 10.5 ml of fertilizer amount with pump pressure 0.36 MPa, planet carrier velocity 82 r/min, and spray hole size 2 mm. The test result can meet the agronomic requirements.

345-354

Authors: ZeNing Gao, QingYu Chen, GuangRui Hu, Chao Chen, ChuanLin Li, Jun Chen

According to the planting agronomy of Lycium barbarum L. in Ningxia, a self-propelled straddle-type sprayer was designed. The aim was to reduce the labor requirements, improve the spraying effect to the middle and lower parts of the canopy, reduce the influence of natural wind on droplet drift, and recycle excess liquid medicine to reduce environmental pollution. Tests showed that the coverage rate of liquid medicine on the leaf surface and back of the leaf peaked at 84.2% and 48.3%, respectively, when spraying pressure was high. Under different spraying distances, the coverage rate of liquid medicine on leaf surface and back of leaf reached 73.3% and 38.3% at the shortest distance. The uniformity of the spray droplet distribution was good, the use error was less than 10%, and the excess liquid was effectively recovered.

362-372

Authors: Sreya John, Arul Leena Rose

As we belong to a developing country, the agricultural importance is a known criterion. Majority of the Indians depend on agriculture for their basic living. It also serves as the backbone of the Indian economy. Therefore this sector should be considered important and taken care of. Diseases affecting the plants and pest are the two major threats of agriculture production. Naked eye observation followed by the addition of chemical fertilizers is the traditional method adopted by most of the farmers to avoid plant diseases. But the main limitation to this method is that it works only in the case of small scale farming. In order to tackle this issue many automatic plant disease detection systems have been developed from the early 70s. This paper is intended to survey some of the existing works in plant disease recognition that include various procedures, materials and approaches. They use different machine learning algorithms, image processing techniques and deep learning methods for disease detection. This paper also compares and suggests novel methods to recognize and classify the various kinds of infections affecting agricultural plants.

381-390

Authors: Valerian Cerempei, Iurii Molotcov, Lucretia Popa

The results of the bibliographic and theoretical studies on methods of dosing liquid substances using hydropneumatic systems are presented in this article. Based on these studies, the multicomponent continuous dosing method and installation were developed in order to obtain high quality liquid mixtures (including biofuels) at minimal cost. In the proposed installation "Biomixt-Pres" the flow of liquid components is ensured by overpressure in the dispenser tank. Theoretical analysis and experimental research of this installation allowed to argue the values of constructive and hydrodynamic parameters (overpressure in the working tank Δp = 0.2- 0.5 MPa; diameter of the working tank D=aprox.0.625 H (H is the height of the tank), liquid level and the installation height of the maximum, minimum liquid level transducers in the working tank), which ensures the required ratio of components with the error δ<0.2%.

399-409

Authors: Ihor Dmytriv

The concept of functional controllability of the milk ejection is considered, which makes it possible to predict the intensity of milk ejection in the online mode of the milking machine. The architecture of the functional controllability by intensity of milk ejection is developed. Input and output parameters of the structural-functional scheme of adaptive control of milk ejection intensity are described. An analytical model of milk ejection intensity based on Pearson's distribution is developed. The milk ejection intensity for different productivity and duration of cows milking is modelled. The microprocessor unit is designed using a single-chip microcontroller. It ensures the algorithm set by the central computer and implements a step of changing the pulsation frequency of 0.1 Hz, the ratio between the cycles of 0.25%, the phase shift step of 0.1 s.

421-429

Authors: A.S. Dorokhov, M.G. Zagoruiko, A.M. Maradudin, I.A. Bashmakov

In present-day economic conditions, extrusion is one of the advanced feedstuffs and food production processes involving intensive manifold heat and force action. During extrusion, the main function is performed by a compression mechanism which includes a forcing screw unit built into the cylinder (cowling). The forcing mechanism performs the task of transferring material while concurrently compressing it up to a required pressure and increasing the material’s temperature due to compression and friction against the cowling's sides. The temperature affects the quality of the resulting product. Thus, the research aims at obtaining a heat balance equation to optimize the extrusion process and the operating parameters of the extruder itself.

441-451

Authors: Guoyang Liu, Junfang Xia, Kan Zheng, Jian Cheng, Liu Jiang, Liwei Guo

In order to study the compressive creep properties and laws of paddy soil, multi-stress creep experiments of paddy soil with different moisture content were carried out. The results show that the creep deformation of paddy soil, subjected to compressive loads effect, develops stably and the paddy soil is not destructed under the yield strength when the stress is low. When the stress level is higher than the yield strength, the internal damage of paddy soil would be caused at the moment of loading. With the extension of creep time, the cracks would gradually expand, resulting in the soil to yield, break and disintegrate. According to the analysis of the deformation properties of paddy soil under compression and the change trend of creep curve, the nonlinear viscoelastic-plastic model was composed of the nonlinear viscoplastic model and Burgers model in series. The creep test curve was introduced into the model for fitting, and the coefficient of determination reached more than 0.96. Based on the model, the strain composition, strain proportion, and strain rate of paddy soil were studied. Finally, the nonlinear model was compared with Burgers model by verification test. The fitting accuracy of the nonlinear model was better than Burgers model, and the coefficient of determination and relative error were 0.997 and 0.437%, respectively, which proved the rationality and correctness of the nonlinear viscoelastic-plastic model. This study can provide a theoretical basis for the optimization of tillage machinery structure and the simulation analysis of soil tillage and compaction.

465-475

Authors: Fang Liang, Yubing Wang, Weihong Deng, Shaoning Yuan, Zirui Wang

As the application of agricultural mechanized production technology becomes more and more extensive, the application of mechanized straw returning technology has become more and more valuable. The mechanized return of straw to the field is a time-saving and labor-saving technology. It is an effective way to achieve sustainable agricultural development and is of great significance to the development and progress of modern agriculture. This article analyzes the current research status of mechanized straw returning to the field, discusses the process structure and characteristics of different mechanized straw returning methods, and focuses on the analysis of the composite technology of straw returning to the field. At the same time, the key problems of straw returning to the field, such as the length of straw not meeting the standard, the shallow depth of straw returning to the field, and the uneven distribution of straw, are put forward and analyzed. By taking the coverage rate and burial rate of the surface straw and the uniformity of the spatial distribution of the straw in the soil as the performance evaluation index of the mechanized return of straw to the field, and expounding its various indicators. Finally, two major development trends are proposed: the development of mechanized straw returning to the field from a single process to a composite process, and the effect of straw returning to the field towards uniform mixed burying and precise control.

485-494

Authors: Hongguang Yang, Huanxiong Xie, Hai Wei, Jianchun Yan, Huichang Wu, Longlong Ji, Xiaowei Xu

Aiming at the problem that contain more soil impurities of potato post-harvest, which affects subsequent deep processing, an apparatus for removing soil impurities from potato was developed. The whole structure is mainly composed of frame, feeding port, flexible rubber finger conveying mechanism, slender filament rotary brushing mechanism, discharging port and the like. The research and analysis determined that the main parameters influencing the soil impurities removal performance are the movement speed of conveying mechanism, the movement speed of brushing mechanism and the clearance between conveying mechanism and brushing mechanism (hereinafter referred to as the mechanism clearance). Taking the main influencing parameters as test factors, and the soil impurities removal rate and potato damage rate as indexes, the orthogonal test with three factors and three levels was carried out. The optimal parameter combination was obtained as follows: the movement speed of conveying mechanism is 0.35m/s, the movement speed of brushing mechanism is 0.40m/s, and the mechanism clearance is 55mm. At this time, the average soil impurities removal rate is 87.18%, and the potato average damage rate is 1.95%, which meet the requirements of potato cleaning operation.

505-515

Authors: Yibo Li, Shipeng Zhu

When forklifts are used to move stored crops in a storage environment, the positioning system is severely affected by the presence of multiple stored crops and shelves and other complex factors in the environment. Aiming at the problems of low positioning and navigation accuracy and large accumulated error of forklift system, a Lidar/IMU integrated navigation and positioning method is proposed in this paper, which can improve the positioning accuracy of forklift truck in storage environment. Meanwhile, the improved EKF filtering algorithm is proposed in this paper which can optimize the navigation and positioning system. This method first extracts the environmental information obtained from Lidar scan measurements and the attitude information collected by the IMU. Then the output data from the two sensors are processed with the improved EKF filtering algorithm, which can improve the navigation and positioning accuracy when the forklift is working. The Lidar/IMU integrated navigation and positioning method proposed in this paper is validated by experiments simulating forklifts working in a warehouse environment in the laboratory. Through simulation experiments, it is verified that the improved EKF filtering algorithm in this paper can improve the positioning accuracy of forklift truck, accuracy of forklift movement trajectory, closer to the expected trajectory

23-32

Authors: He, Changbin; You, Yong; Wu, Hongjian; Ye, Bingnan; Wang, Decheng

Novel tillage tools with high working performance are desired in improving degraded natural grassland tillage system. This paper aimed to find the influence of various geometry structures of very narrow tines on related soil disturbance characteristics and tillage resistances. Four shank-type tillage tines with different cutting head shapes, and the test bench were designed and manufactured. Field experiments under different working depths were conducted. The working depth uniformity, soil over-turning rate, cross-section area of disturbed soil layer, and related forces were obtained, analysed, and compared. Results showed that, the working depth uniformities were above 70%, and soil overturning rates did not exceed 5%. Furrows with V-shaped cross-section were formed. The tine with an arc-shaped cutting edge (AT) obtained a lower draft force value, and the tine with chamfer structure (TTD) presented big differences on the draft force and soil disturbance compared to the tine with blunt cutting edge (TT). Both the draft force and the area of disturbed soil cross section had a good linear relationship with the working depth, and the specific draft force increased with the working depth increasing. Using a very narrow tine with chamfers to split and break the soil layer on the natural grassland without pulling or dragging the roots could be an appropriate tillage method applied for improving degraded natural grassland, but still need further surveys.

43-53

Authors: Hidayat, Dadang Dayat; Sagita, Diang; Darmajana, Doddy Andy; Indriati, Ashri; Rahayuningtyas, Ari; Sudaryanto, Arie; Kurniawav, Yose Rizal; Nugroho, Pramono

The study aimed to develop a small-scale drum dryer to meet the small enterprises' demand in the context to produce ready-to-eat food products to support stunting prevention. The design, manufacture, and thermal evaluation of a double drum dryer had been carried out. The development stage consisted of sizing the main components, creating technical drawings, determining component materials, manufacturing, and performance tests. The dryer drum dimension was 500 mm in diameter and 400 mm in length and 20 mm in thickness. The capacity of the double drum dryer was 10 kg/batch. The double drum dryer was powered by a 3-phase electromotor 2.24 kW. There are three transmission systems applied, i.e. gearbox, chain-sprocket and belt-pulley. The feeding system applied was nip feeding. The heat source originated from the steamer using an electric heater. Results of the test showed that the double drum drying machine had worked well as expected. The temperature distribution of both drums was fairly uniform, and the temperature uniformity in the drum surface showed good uniformity (minimum gradient temperature). The double drum dryer was able to produce good characteristics of products in the form of ready-to-eat products made from several ingredients (i.e. millets and red bean) which contain high macro and micronutrient.

385-392

Authors: Paula Tudor, Gheorghe Voicu, Gabriel-Alexandru Constantin, Elena-Madalina Stefan, Mariana-Gabriela Munteanu, Vasilica Stefan

The Brabender farinograph is a device with which important indications for baking are obtained, namely: dough development time (DDT), water absorption (WA), dough stability time (DST), softening degree (SD), Farinograph Quality Number (FQN), important parameters for determining flour mixtures. These parameters are represented on the farinographic curve drawn during the farinograph test. Dough development or formation (formation of gluten) is represented by the ascending branch of the farinographic curve, which has a steep ascending slope, because time (expressed in minutes), fixed on the abscissa of the diagram, has relatively low values (about 1.2–3 min for regular flours), while consistency, fixed on the ordinate of the diagram, reaches the maximum value (peak time) of the dough. In comparison, the descending branch of the farinogram, which starts from the maximum value of the dough consistency (peak time), has a slow descending slope, because the kneading time is extended up to 20 minutes, and the consistency decreases relatively little. The paper presents the appreciation of this branch of the farinogram by mathematical equations for several types of doughs from wheat flour mixed with different percentages of salt.

19-28

Authors: Vezirov, Ch. Z.; Atanasov, At. Z.; Vlăduț, V. N.

A method and procedure for automatic calculation of field capacity and fuel consumption of mobile machinery with tanks, hoppers and bunkers is suggested. They are based on a combination of two well-founded approaches: East-European and North-American. To increase its calculation area some applications for machines with containers as grain, fertilizer, solution, etc. are added. An example of five linked field operations, namely potato transportation, fertilization, spraying, planting and harvesting is presented. A list of needed information with relations between them and main indices of agricultural aggregates is prepared. For convenience and objectivity calculations are automated with spreadsheets.

41-50

Authors: Xie, Q.J.; Liu, F.Y.; Yang, M..J.; Liu, J.; Yang, S.H.; Xie, S.Y.

Well cellar seedling transplanting can effectively avoid series of problems such as long recovery time and poor uniformity of seedlings caused by the server climate conditions outside. Well cellar making is quite difficult in the upland with low moisture content. An opener with large socket was newly designed for the well cellar making. The well cellar making process was simulated by means of discrete element method (DEM), and its verification was qualified by soil bin test, with a relative error 7.46%. Taking arc radius of the opener socket, rotation speed and penetration speed as control factors, and collapse rate of the cellar hole as evaluation index, the influence of control factors on the collapse rate and their significance were obtained by Box-Behnken Design (BBD) test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). A quadratic regression equation of collapse rate with control factors was established, and the optimal parameters of the control factors were obtained as arc radius 128 mm, rotation speed 380 r/min and penetration speed 0.15 m/s, with the minimum collapse rate 22.70%. The collapse rate of the newly designed well cellar opener decreased much compared to the traditional one.

61-72

Authors: Yingmin, Chen; Haiyan, Song; Rui, Zhao; Qin, Su

To ensure optimum peach quality during precooling, air supply temperature within the precooled facility should be precisely controlled. Three-dimensional unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was established in this research, taking air supply temperature as an influencing factor, a dynamic simulation of this model was performed based on Fluent, and its reliability was verified through experiments. Simulation results showed that the decrease of air supply temperature did not affect the 7/8ths cooling time (SECT) significantly, but shortened the cooling time of the fruit which was cooled from the initial temperature to a fixed temperature, especially when air supply temperature dropped below 4oC, its corresponding cooling time showed a trend of steady variation. Meanwhile, respiration rate of 6-8 oC was about twice as high as that of 2-4 oC, its corresponding moisture loss was also increased by 34.71-39.74%. Thus, the range of 2-4 oC was more suitable for quick precooling peaches after harvest. Experiments showed that the root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.7 and 2.7 m·s-1 were 0.747 and 0.836 oC, respectively. It could be seen that simulation results were in good agreement with experimental results, which fully verified the feasibility and high accuracy of this new modeling method. Finally, this study can provide a reliable reference for establishing an accurate precooling numerical model, and rationally optimizing air supply temperature range of fruits precooling experiment to maintain its high quality.

81-90

Authors: Dorokhov, Alexey Semenovich; Ponomarev, Andrey Grigoryevich; Zernov, Vitaly Nikolaevich; Petukhov, Sergey Nikolaevich; Aksenov, Alexander Gennadievich; Sibirev, Aleksey Viktorovich

Structural layouts of coulters and their groups in potato planters are justified in the article based on the morphological features of the potato plant, its requirements for growing conditions and ensuring the quality of the planting process. The purpose of coulter groups is to form a bed for placing tubers with a loose layer of soil in 5-8 cm and sealing them with loosened soil to a certain depth. To substantiate the type of potato planter coulters that meet the requirements for potato growing conditions to the maximum extent possible, optimize the parameters of coulter groups that automatically ensure the stability of the coulter travel depth when imitating irregularities of the field microrelief. A comparative analysis of the impact on the soil of the most common anchor coulters with a blunt angle of soil entry and a sharp angle with an individual floating suspension is given, and indicators of the quality of their operation are described. It was found that coulters with an individual floating suspension and an acute angle of soil entry meet the requirements for potato growing conditions to the maximum extent possible. In order to ensure travel stabilization of such a coulter at a given depth when imitating field irregularities, a version of the coulter group has been developed that provides automatic correction of the coulter's angle of attack when changing its travel depth. Experimental studies have optimized the parameters of the coulter suspension that ensure automatic imitation of field microrelief irregularities up to 20 cm deep within the initial requirements for potato planting machines. Coulters with an individual floating suspension and a sharp angle of soil entry most fully meet the requirements for potato growing conditions to the maximum extent possible. A coulter group with a suspension aspect ratio of 150:200:400:400 cm and an acute angle of coulter entry into the soil provides automatic maintenance of the set coulter travel depth within the initial requirements (±2 cm) for irregularities in the field microrelief of up to 200 mm. In this case, the bottom and walls of the furrow are not compacted.

99-108

Authors: Wang, Tiejun; Wang, Tieliang; Wang, Ruili; Liu, Kai; Gong, Yuanjuan

In this study, a segmented type mixer with double spiral ribbon was designed to destroy choking and accumulation of agricultural waste in the mixing process, by improving the mixing uniformity and reducing the residual amount of maize straw and cow dung. To determine the optimal working parameters of the mixer, the ternary quadratic regression orthogonal rotation combined experiment was carried out by using the mixing uniformity and residual rate of material as the evaluation indexes and the spindle speed, full coefficient and mixing time as the influencing factors. The results showed that the order of the influences on the mixing uniformity was spindle speed>mixing time>fullness coefficient, and the order of the influences on the residual rate of material was fullness factor>spindle speed>mixing time. The study established a regression model of influencing factors and evaluation indexes, and analysed the influence of significant factors and their interaction on evaluation indexes. The optimum combination after parameter optimization based on response surface method was determined to be as follows: spindle speed of 38.00rad/min, full coefficient of 55.00%, mixing time of 9.33min. While the mixing uniformity and residual rate of material corresponding to the verification test were 91.25% and 95.19%, respectively, the relative error of the predicted result was less than 0.5%. The study meets the requirements of mixing agricultural waste materials to make fertilizers, and provides technical solutions for improving the localized resource utilization of agricultural waste.

131-136

Authors: Ito, Ryoei; Kajisa, Takamitsu

This study proposes a measurement system that comprises an e-Tape water level sensor, Arduino and XBee. The system was considered a success because of the linear relation between measured voltage signals and water depths obtained by it. This linearity was essential because Arduino does not have non-linear calculation ability. As a result, the numerical order of RMSE in measuring water depth using this system was obtained as 3.52 mm. For measuring water consumption for 1 day at the standard scale of paddy fields in Japan, water consumption can be estimated using the system below non-flowing water surfaces. However, when there is water flow, it will be difficult to estimate water consumption because discharge errors may be cumulative.

145-154

Authors: Su, Hongjie; Cui, Hongmei; Li, Feiyu; Fan, Teng

Through the mechanical analysis of air-pressure subsoiler, it is found that the main factors affecting its tractive resistance are the air pressure injected into the soil, the soil cohesion, the length and width of the shovel surface, the soil disturbance coefficient, and moving speed of the subsoiler. The traditional air-pressure subsoiler was redesigned to solve the problem of large tractive resistance. In the soil trench experiment, the subsoiling shovel’s shape, the air pressure, and the position of air hole were used as test factors, and the ratio of the traction resistance of the shovel to the soil disturbance, namely SDF (Specific Draft Force), was used as the evaluation index. By the response surface test method and analysing the soil disturbance and the tractive resistance, it is determined that rectangular subsoiling shovel with the air hole in the upper part of the shovel is the optimal under the pressure of 1.2 MPa.

169-178

Authors: Mosalanejad, Hossein; Minaei, Saeid; Borghei, Alimohammad; Farzaneh, Behfar

This study investigates the potential of using a sprayer robot for the greenhouse with bell-pepper plants and compares its performance with the backpack sprayer. The infrared sensors were used to navigate the robot and the ultrasonic sensors were used to distinguish the beginning of each row for automatic spraying. Results showed that the robot's guidance was done well by the infrared sensor. It was capable for spraying plants on both sides of the greenhouse simultaneously with ultrasonic sensor. The sprayer robot had better spray quality and lower solution consumption and spraying time and spray loss than the backpack sprayer.

189-198

Authors: Tan, Kun; Sun, Sanmin; Du, Liangzong; Zhou, Shaoliang

This research aimed to develop an information acquisition and intelligent irrigation decision system based on the agricultural Internet of Things (IoT). The system consists of a field control terminal and a remote client, realizing control, real-time display, alarm, and other functions. The user may apply the upper and lower limit of soil relative water content as the irrigation decision threshold. The system automatically controls irrigation according to the threshold. In the calculation and analysis part of the system, the programming software Keil 5 was used for data collection and monitoring, database comparison, calculation and analysis, irrigation decision, and other functions.

221-230

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

In the current paper, a coated cotton-seed discrete element model was established. Furthermore, we designed a device for the simultaneous determination of the repose and accumulation angles, and Plackett–Burman and central composite design (CCD) tests were performed with the repose and accumulation angles as the test indexes. The static friction coefficient between seeds (SFCC) and the dynamic friction coefficient between seeds (DFCC) were observed to have a significant influence on the indexes and were thus selected for the subsequent analysis (P < 0.05). Analysis of variance revealed the terms of these two parameters to have a significant effect on the relative error of the repose angle (RERA) and the relative error of accumulation angles (REAA) (P < 0.05). A solution to the proposed mathematical model was determined via the NSGA-Ⅱ genetic algorithm and the Pareto optimal solution set was obtained. Based on multi-objective optimization, the SFCC and DFCC were determined as 0.174 and 0.068, for RERA and REAA values of 1.715% and 1.712%, respectively. Simulations were then performed using the optimal parameters. Results of the T-test demonstrated that there were no significant differences between the simulated and physical test results.

241-248

Authors: Yi, Qiu; Xiaofeng, Dai; Zhi, Chen; Nianzu, Dai; Longkai, Mi

In order to explore the temporal and spatial distribution and motion state of the grains of wheatgrass (Agropyron) seeds and powder in pelleting process, and to find the optimal inlet air speed of pelleting premixer, the pelleting forming mechanism was revealed. Based on Herz-Mindlin contact theory, the contact mechanics model of seed and powder was established. Besides, CPFD software was used to model and simulate the pelleting premixer, and the contact, collision and friction rules among particles were analysed. The simulation and experimental results show that with the increase of inlet wind speed, the bed expansion increases and the unit volume particle concentration decreases, while the air pressure difference only slightly increases. When the inlet wind speed is set at 3.5 m/s, the atomizing nozzle velocity is set at 4.1 m/s, and the seed coating agent flow rate is 0.36 L/min, the particles are suspended due to air isolation, forming a spouted fluidized bed. It is good for seed and powder contact and rapid prototyping. In this time, the pelleting qualified rate was 95.8%. The results provide theoretical basis and technical support for the research of small irregular seeds pelletizing technology.

261-270

Authors: Liu, Shaohua; He, Junlin; Wu, Nan

A comb-type harvesting test bench was designed to address low fruit collection rate and theoretical analysis and simulation analysis of the harvesting process were carried out in this work. Single factor simulation experiment and bench experiment were carried out, and fruit collection rate was used as the evaluation index. The motor speed, bending angle of comb teeth and radial diameter of comb teeth arrangement were selected as the experimental factors. Results showed that the collection rate decreased with the increase of motor speed; and increased with the increase of the bending angle of comb teeth or the radial diameter of comb teeth arrangement. The orthogonal experiment of three-factor and three-level quadratic rotation centre combination was performed. The results showed that motor speed had the largest effect on collection rate, followed by radial diameter of comb teeth arrangement and bending angle of comb teeth. The optimal parameter combination was predicted by the response surface model as follows: motor speed of 25 r/min, bending angle of comb teeth of 120°, radial diameter of comb teeth arrangement of 868.45 mm and correspondingly the collection rate reached 91.51%. Based on actual harvesting efficiency and the machining problems of the test bench, the bench experiment was performed with the motor speed of 25 r/min, the bending angle of comb teeth of 120°, the radial diameter of comb teeth arrangement of 900 mm, and the collection rate was 93.82%. The relative error with the predicted optimal result was 2.48%, achieving the purpose of improving the collection rate.

281-290

Authors: Qing, Yiren; Li, Yaoming; Xu, Lizhang; Ma, Zheng

During the mechanical harvesting of rapeseed, the impact of the rotating reel tine on rape can easily cause the pods to burst and seeds drop. However, the specific size of the pod shatter resistance suitable for mechanical harvesting is unsure. In this paper the impact force on the rape was analysed through the measurement and wireless transmission of stress change of the tine. A two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) collision tester of pod resistance for field testing was used. The results of the shatter resistance index (SRI) under 2-DOF method and the cracking force under ripping method were compared. According to the results of SRI, cracking force and tine impact force, the expected field SRI was determined. The results show that the tine impact forces at the low reel speed of 18 revs min-1 was 1.76 N. The 2-DOF method results are reliable and the SRI is significantly correlated with the cracking force. The SRI should be over 0.576 to be greater than the impact force under the low reel speed, however, only 14.8% of the tested varieties could satisfy. It indicates the resistance of the commercial varieties is generally poor and need to strengthen.

301-308

Authors: González-Cueto, O.; Castillo-Rodríguez, J.A.; Ávalos-Clavelo, J.L.; López-Bravo E.; Herrera-Suárez, M.; Salcerio Salaberry, R.A.

Field efficiency is a main factor for obtaining high productivity of agricultural machinery. The aim of this paper was to determine the field efficiency of KTP 2M and CASE IH 8000 sugarcane harvester machines, working with different lengths of cutting fronts. The research was carried out in the Panchito Gómez Toro area of production, belonging to Sugar Enterprise, Villa Clara, during February and March 2020. The main movement times of the harvester inside the field was obtained by stop watch, as well as the fuel consumption during the works. The influence of the length of the cutting fronts on the turning time, time for completing the task and field efficiency were determined according to the sugarcane yield. The results show that lengths of cutting front less than 300 m, represent greater losses in time and higher rate of fuel consumption.Lengths of cutting fronts greater than 500 m, do not represent an increase in field efficiency.

317-325

Authors: Konstantinov, Yu.V.; Akimov, A.P. ; Medvedev, V.I.; Terentyev, A.G

Flat circular discs in powered operation mode create driving forces. These forces enable to decrease the wheel slippage of the energy saturated tractor of tillage unit and to reduce the specific energy consumption. The objective of this study was to develop a technique that enables to determine the driving disc optimal parameters for maximum efficiency criterion. The earlier developed mathematical model of soil-disc interaction was used for this purpose. Soil properties in the model are characterized by means of two empirical constants. The relative depth and the kinematic parameter determine the disc operation mode. It was shown that the driving disc can operate with high efficiency, if the disc operates at the optimal values of the parameters. The driving disc efficiency can achieve the value about fifty percent. The experimental results confirmed the adequacy of the technique. The discrepancy between the predicted and field experimental values of driving forces and applied moments was about 25%. The proposed technique can be modified to optimize the parameters of other powered rotary tools of tillage machines and units.

335-344

Authors: Wang, Li; Li, Shuo; Lv, Dianji; Ekhlo, Ghay

In recent years, combine harvesters are increasingly developing in the direction of large-scale, technology, automation and intelligence, and more and more electrical equipment is installed on combine harvesters. The electrical system of combine harvester is prone to failure when it works in high temperature, high humidity, dusty and strong vibration environment. Parameters to be adjusted in the header system of combine harvester include header height, drum height, drum front and back position, cutting frequency and drum speed. Aiming at the inconvenience of debugging and testing the measurement and control system of combine harvester in the field operation environment, an intelligent control test bed of combine harvester was designed. The test bed can simulate various intelligent control algorithms of combine harvester in laboratory environment, control the forward speed of combine harvester according to data processing results, classify faults, and send and print stored data through serial communication. Experiments show that the system works stably and reliably, and can realize the integration of the monitoring system of combine harvester operation process. It can save costs and improve efficiency in the application of the monitoring system of combine harvester.

355-364

Authors: Paun, A.; Stroescu, Gh.; Zaica, Al.; Ştefan, V.; Olan, M.; Yasbeck Khozamy, S.

The production and quality of any agricultural crop is determined both by the factors acting from the moment of sowing until harvesting, as well as by those that directly influence the seeds before sowing. In the organic cultivation of cereals, industrial plants, vegetables, medicinal plants, the seeds must be clean without any impurities because the maintenance of these crops does not allow using chemicals. There is a number of technologies and pieces of equipment for separating impurities. In case of separating impurities from the mass of small seeds, especially vegetable and flower seeds, the use of separation on sieves is very expensive because compared to other crops, vegetable seeds are produced in small quantities (except for beans, peas, lentils, etc.) and have a wide variety of characteristics. Vegetables belong to a large number of plant families. This is why their seeds have a very different structure, shape, size and chemical composition. To overcome these challenges, the experimental model Seed conditioning module for vegetable species – MCSL, which separates impurities by using the aerodynamic properties of the seeds was developed. Seed conditioning module for vegetable species is designed to improve the technologies of organic seed production for vegetable seeds, flowers, industrial plants, cereals and to solve practical problems regarding seed production in the case of vegetable crops. Starting from these considerations, the paper will present theoretical and experimental information on the influence of some factors on the aerodynamic properties of cereal seeds, vegetables and industrial plants. The quality of seed separation in this module depends on the degree of uniformity of the air velocity field in the working area, on the stability of this field and on its extent.

375-384

Authors: Ran, Xu; Mathkour, Chandra

With the development of engine supercharging technology and the application of in-cylinder direct injection technology, engines with high power and torque have become a trend. Crankshaft, as one of the most important and expensive parts in tractor engine, plays the role of transforming linear motion into circular rotation. The damage and destruction of crankshaft will lead to the damage of other parts of the engine, which makes the engine unable to work normally, and its stability affects the reliability of the whole engine to a great extent. The main failure form of tractor engine crankshaft is bending fatigue failure, so alternating bending stress occurs in crankshaft, which may cause fatigue failure of crankshaft. Crankshaft is one of the important components of tractor engine, and its stress is complex, which is the key and difficult point of engine design. In this paper, the crankshaft of tractor engine is analysed and studied based on compound supercharging technology, so that the dynamic characteristics of the engine are deeply understood, the action law of dynamic working load is mastered, the response analysis and evaluation of the system are carried out, and the optimization method of crankshaft mechanism of agricultural tractor engine is found out.

397-404

Authors: Ardiansah, Irfan; Bafdal, Nurpilihan; Bono, Awang; Suryadi, Edy; Husnuzhan, Ramadhoni

The greenhouse which is a building used to manipulate the micro-climate is an essential building for plant growth. Greenhouses have one or more devices that are used to monitor their internal environments against changes in micro-climate. The problem is that some devices are metal-based devices and plastics that can be deformed, such as electronic devices, one of which is a micro-climate monitoring device, so a shield that can protect the device but does not interfere with the sensor readings is needed. The purpose of this study was to make and test a plastic-based container called Duradus Junction Box, which has six removable ventilation openings to measure the micro-climate data. This study uses five Duradus Junction Boxes with different numbers of ventilation openings, a micro-controller connected to the air temperature and relative humidity sensor, and a MicroSD module to record all micro-climate data, all devices being then tested simultaneously for 30 days. Statistically, after using One Way ANOVA, this study found that micro-climate measurements result for actual devices data can be considered similar because the P-value for temperature (0.886) and relative humidity (0.917) is greater than alpha level of 0.05. However, when reading the recorded data for both parameters, it can be seen that micro-climate data inside all shields are slightly higher than actual microclimate data ranging from 1 to 2oC for air temperature and 1 to 3% for air relative humidity.

413-424

Authors: Zeng, Fandi; Li, Xuying; Zhang, Yongzhi; Zhao, Zhiwei; Cheng, Cheng

Dynamic soil behaviour at the contact interface during transplanting makes it difficult to ensure transplanting quality. To solve this problem, the Hertz-Mindlin with bonding contact model was used to calibrate the parameters of soils in Inner Mongolia. Based on the response surface design principle, four-factor and three-level tests were performed using the repose angle as an evaluation index, and the following influence factors were considered: the soil-soil restoration coefficient, the soil-steel restoration coeficient, the soil-steel static friction coefficient and the soil-steel static friction coefficient. A regression model was analysed, and an optimization procedure yielded the following optimum combination of parameters: a soil-soil restoration coefficient of 0.45, a soil-steel restoration coefficient of 0.35, a soil-steel static friction coefficient of 0.85 and a soil-steel rolling friction coefficient of 0.13. This optimal combination was used to simulate the soil at the contact interface. The particle dynamic behaviour and soil particle mass flow were used to analyse the soil dynamic behaviour, showing that the average mass flow during the gradual opening of the duckbilled planter tends to increase over time; when the duckbilled planter gradually leaves soil, the contact interface of soil particles in the corner of the duckbilled planter unit causes a reduction in the fluctuation range of the soil mass flow, which exhibits a wave-like change. After the duckbilled planter has left soil, the contact interface of the soil changes tends to stabilize. The duckbilled planter-soil discrete element simulation model was verified. The results of this study provide a reference for the optimal design of a duckbilled planter structure.

434-442

Authors: Zhang, Shuo; Chen, Qingyu; Liu, Jinyi; Chen, Yu; Chen, Jun; Jin, Hongling; Luo, Tongyun

Vegetable industry occupies a significant position in the world agricultural production, China has been the largest vegetable producing country in the world. However, the mechanization of vegetable production is still in the initial stage. There are many problems such as complex environment, non-uniform agronomy, various kinds of agricultural machinery etc. In order to meet the varied requirements of vegetable field work, in this paper, a new type of high-efficiency vegetable field operation power equipment was developed by adopting the idea of "frame-type", and the key components are developed. They include ground gap adjusting mechanism, wheel spacing adjusting mechanism, inter-axle hitch mechanism, the rear hitch mechanism and frame. The vibration modal analysis and stiffness analysis of the frame are carried out by ANSYS, which proves that the frame design is reasonable and meets the use requirements. Finally, a prototype was made and field experiments were carried out. The results showed that the maximum running speed of the multifunctional vegetable field machine was 16 km/h, the maximum operating speed was 8 km/h, the maximum gradient was 20, and the adjustable range of ground clearance was 400~800 mm. The adjustable range of wheel spacing was 1600-2000 mm.

453-460

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

Individual pig recognition is an essential step for accurate breeding and intelligent management of pigs. To realize individual pig identification, applicable dataset of pigs needs to be built. For pigs’ behaviour is difficult to control, the data acquisition is of great difficulty and low efficiency. In addition, few reports on pig face detection are there at home and abroad, thus, face data acquisition faces more difficulty. In this study, double open mv3 digital cameras were adopted, and the approach of starting the pig face acquisition program by acquiring pig figure with a vertical camera to calculate the slope of their back before sending a signal to the horizontal camera was adopted. The image brightness was calculated based on RGB function: when the value was less than 90, the supplementary light system would be started by L298 module, and when the value was more than 120, the acquisition system would be restarted. This study provides a reference for solving the key problem of automatic acquisition of pig face data for pig face detection.

469-478

Authors: Dai, Nianzu; Hou, Zhanfeng; Qiu, Yi ; Zhang, Xiwen

In order to quantitatively describe the influence between the mixing process and the pelleting quality of the vibration pelletizer, this paper uses EDEM to conduct a numerical simulation study on the uniformity of the seeds and powder mixing of the pelleting machine under vibration force field. Meanwhile, a single factor test was established to verify the feasibility of numerical simulation. The results show that the coefficient of variation CV is the smallest and the mixing uniformity between the seeds and powder is the highest when the vibration frequency is 20Hz, the rotation speed is 45r/min, the tilt angle is 40° during numerical simulation. The pelleting qualified rate J and single seed rate P as the test index of the mixing uniformity of seed pelleting shows the optimum value in the single factor test, EDEM can be used to analyse the mixing uniformity and pelleting quality in pelletizer. The results of orthogonal experiment indicated that the best combination of parameters was obtained as follows: vibration frequency of 20Hz, rotation speed of 45r/min and tilt angle of 40°, the mixing uniformity of seeds and powder and the pelleting quality of Agropyron seeds are the highest. This study can effectively provide reference for design of pelleting machine of small seeds under vibration force field.

488-497

Authors: Cardei, P.; Muraru, V.; Muraru, S.; Sfaru, R.; Muraru-Ionel, C.

The article presents results of some test sketches - validation and ordering - of the mathematical models proposed for the physical law rank on soil tillage draft force. The results constitute the continuation and partial completion of a method of testing - validation and ordering - the models proposed and published by researchers in the specialized literature of the last seventy years. The material defines and completes the method (initially only a validation method), up to a method of ordering the models according to their accuracy in relation to the experimental results. The proposed tests are intended to increase the coherence of research in the field of searching for a physical law of soil tillage draft force, assuming that it exists. The method can also be applied in case of other physical laws in research, construction or improvement stage.